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55 Father Guy Tachard
(Plates 33 to 43)
(See also items 59, 64, 70.) Translated from his ‘Voyage de Siam ...’ Paris 1686: it is also in Strangman, but with a number of errors and many unindicated omissions.
King Louis XIV having ordered that Jesuit mathematicians should be sent with his Embassy to Siam ‘six were chosen from various who offered themselves ... as Superior Father de Fontenay ... the five others were Fathers Gerbillon, le Comte, Visdelou, Bouvet and myself.... We were provided with the Tables of the satellites of Jupiter ... also a gift of several large telescopes’ [and sea-charts, quadrants, clocks, microscopes, thermometers, barometers, etc.]. Arrived at Brest February 10: delay to await La Maligne, a 30-gun frigate*. Abbé de Choisy embarked in L'Oiseau, with the returning Siamese Mandarins, four missionaries and the six Jesuits: de Vaudricourt in command, with two Lieutenants including de Forbin of item 53. Twelve young gentlemen, 3 in L'Oiseau, 9 in La Maligne ‘commanded by M. Joyeux, who had already made several voyages to the Indies’. Ambassador de Chaumont embarked on March 1. Sailed at dawn on March 3. Daily Mass, Vespers on Sundays and feast-days, sermons to crew, catechism thrice weekly to servants, soldiers and sailors. Porpoises, sharks, bonitos, flying-fish. Equator April 7, with ‘the badly misnamed Baptism’.
May 17 ... we began to see ... the large greenish reeds, ten or twelve feet long, called Trombas* ... the surest sign of nearing the Cape of Good Hope ... birds now in greater numbers than previously, which did not leave us until far beyond the Cape. Some had black backs and white bellies, the ends of their wings a mixture of these two colours much like a chessboard, and no doubt for this reason called Daimiers by us French: they are about the size of a pigeon [Cape Doves]. Others were even larger than these, dark above and entirely white below, except the tips of their wings which look like black velvet, and which the Portuguese for this reason call Mangas de veludo, Velvetsleeves....
[May 29. Cape sighted, 15 or 20 leagues away.]
May 31. The Cape of Good Hope, as it appears when coming from Europe, is a long series of mountains which run from North to South and terminate as a cape in the sea. The two of the chain which we first saw from about ten leagues distance from this cape, are the Table and Lion Mountains. We first sighted the former: it gets its name because its top is very flat and looks much like a table. The Lion is thus called because it has nearly the form of a lion crouching on its belly: although it lies nearer to the sea than the other, we saw it only after this. From a distance they seem to be one mountain, and in fact they are not far distant from one another. Below these mountains there lies a great bay, oval in shape, which extends to the East for about two or three leagues. At its
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entrance it is nearly two leagues wide, and in circumference about nine leagues. South [sic: North] of the mountains the whole coast is clean [without sunken rocks], but everywhere else it is dangerous. The Commissioner-General of the Company of the Indies [van Reede], of whom much will be said later, told us one day that he had repeatedly felt alarm as he watched us tacking so near the land, and had even contemplated ordering a cannon to be fired, charged with ball, as a warning to us to keep to the open sea and await a more favourable wind.
Towards the centre of this bay the Dutch have built a pentagonal fort* under the Table Mountain, which covers it to the South, and behind the Lion, which, about a land-league away, affords it protection from the West. As one enters the bay a low-lying island is left to port, called Robin Island, in the centre of which the Dutch have planted their flag. Thither are relegated natives of the country, and sometimes also of the Indies, whom they wish to punish by banishment. They are made to work on the making of lime from the shells cast up by the sea.
The weather being favourable for entering the bay, we were hoping to come to anchor at about ten in the morning; but just as we entered the wind dropped suddenly, and in the calm we found ourselves carried rapidly by a current towards a rock lying near Robin Island [Walvis Rock], on which we could see the waves breaking violently. The longboat* and the shallop* were launched at once to tow us away from this dangerous place. In spite of the vigilance of the officers and the alacrity of the men in carrying out their orders, we none the less were in great danger of running onto this rock, by reason of the speed of the current or the tide, which carried us to less than half a league from the breakers, when suddenly came a land-wind which compelled us to tow the shallop in our turn; and soon we were free of our troubles. We nevertheless lost two of our topsails
[33] The Ceraste or Horned Snake. From item 55, probably by Claudius.
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[34] Table Bay. The coast-line to the West is of course ridiculous, as is the size of the Fort. The building near the Jetty is probably the first Hospital. The Devil Peak is exaggerated in size.
... which the wind tore to pieces. We were obliged to keep tacking about all day in the channel, in a most tedious manner, so that ... it was nightfall when we reached the anchorage. Even then we had to weigh anchor next day, to come nearer to the fort and seek shelter in the lee of the mountains from the extremely violent westerly winds which prevail at the Cape in Winter, the season we then were in. We thus came to anchor next day one hundred and fifty paces from the fort [ dr 1/6].
There were in the roadstead of the Cape four large ships which had been there for a month, although they had sailed from Holland more than eight weeks before us [dr 19/4]. The first was flying the pennant of an Admiral* below the flag: this is a sign of the sovereignty that the Dutch Company claims in the Indies. It was commanded by the Baron Van Rheeden, who was sent by the East-India Company with the title of Commissioner-General to visit the Company's settlements there. He had authority to give whatever orders he thought fit, to change the officers in the factories and even the governors of the stations, if he considered it necessary. The second was under the command of the Baron de Saint-Martin, a Frenchman by birth. He is Major-General of Batavia and, as such, commands all the troops of the Republic in the East Indies. The Sieur Bocheros, formerly a ship's captain and now councillor on the staff of Van Rheeden during the period of his commission, commanded the third. The fourth ship was also
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under the orders of Saint-Martin, who was to proceed almost immediately to Batavia.
All these gentlemen, with whom must also be included Monsieur Vanderstellen, the Governor, or, as the Dutch say, the Commandeur of the Cape, are of singular merit, and it was a happy chance that enabled us to make their acquaintance during our stay here.
We had no sooner anchored than two boats came alongside to find out who we were. On the following day, towards seven o'clock in the morning, the Commissioner-General sent his greetings to the Ambassador. The latter, in turn, despatched ashore the Chevalier de Forbin ... and three other officers to salute him, and request his permission to take in water and the necessary refreshing. He granted the request with much politeness, and, being told that there were on board several gentlemen in attendance on the Ambassador, caused an invitation to be sent them to come ashore to shoot. He also enquired if there were no Jesuits on board. It is probable that those who had come alongside on the previous evening and had observed us somewhat attentively, had spoken to him about us on their return. M. de Forbin replied that there were six of us who were going to China, and that there were also other ecclesiastics on board on their way to Siam.
Then they spoke about the saluting, and it was agreed that the fortress should return gun for gun when our vessel had fired. This point was badly explained or badly understood by these gentlemen, for when at ten o'clock the Ambassador had ordered seven shots to be fired, the Admiral* replied with five only and the fortress with none at all. The Ambassador sent ashore at once, and it was agreed that the Admiral's salute should not count. So the fortress fired seven guns, the Admiral seven, and the others five, to acknowledge the salute of the King's ship. After that the shallops* were made ready, and we thought of nothing but getting to land and resting ourselves on shore after the toils endured.
From the moment of our arrival in this bay we found the place so suitable for making observations that we resolved forthwith to seek the means of doing so. For this purpose a commodious house was required, to which our instruments could be transported, and where we could work day and night during the period of our short stay. But there was a difficulty: Jesuit mathematicians going ashore with sundry appliances might well wound the susceptibilities of a Dutch governor in a colony of such recent date, and lead him to suspect some thing other than that intended. We were even advised to disguise ourselves and not appear as Jesuits, but this we deemed unseemly, and in the outcome we found that our robes did us no harm at all.
After considering the matter, it was decided that Father Fontenay and myself should call on the Commissioner-General and the Governor, before the others went ashore; and that, if an opportunity presented itself in the course of the conversation, we should take advantage of the opportunity to set forward our project. So without any other introduction we went straight to the fort*. The sentry stopped us at the outer entrance, as is the custom in fortified places, until the coming of the officer on duty. As soon as this latter was informed that we came to visit the Commissioner-General and the Governor, he
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ordered that we should be permitted to enter, and gave us a soldier to conduct us to their quarters.
This house is a large double-storied structure, very solidly built. Up above there is a very handsome terrace paved with hewn stone, with balconies and iron balustrades around it: one goes there usually to take the air. The climate in this land is so temperate that it is never very cold except when the south wind blows, and although it was then the middle of their Winter, the heat during the day was sufficiently great to make us seek coolness in the evening.
We entered first of all a large hall where they hold their services on Sundays, while awaiting the completion of the church* they have begun to build [sic] outside the fort. On each side of this hall there are handsome chambers. We were shown into the one to the left hand, where we were received by Monsieur de Vanderstel and where, a moment later, we were joined by the Baron de Vanrheden. The latter is a gentleman of rank, about fifty years of age, well-made, courteous, and a scholar of sound judgment who discourses well on all topics. We were greatly surprised to find such refinement at the Cape of Good Hope, and very much more so by the attentions and marks of friendship which we received at this first interview. Father Fontenay, for whom on this occasion I acted as interpreter in Portuguese, seeing such propitious conditions for our project, said to the Commissioner-General that we were six Jesuits on our way to India and China; that, unaccustomed as we were to travel by sea, we needed a short rest on land to recover from the effects of so long a voyage, and that we had not dared to do this without knowing whether it would be pleasing to them. The Commissioner-General did not allow me to translate all that Father Fontenay had said, but interrupting almost at once, he answered in Portuguese: ‘It will afford us the greatest pleasure, Fathers, if you will come ashore and rest: we will do everything we can to contribute to your recovery from your fatigue.’
A reply so favourable encouraged us to proceed. We told him that, once on shore, we would be very glad to employ our time on a matter of public utility, and then to inform him of our observations, in order in some measure to require his kindness. [We told him] that, on leaving France, we had taken on board various mathematical instruments, among which were several very suitable for ascertaining the longitude of any locality we should pass, without having recourse to the eclipses of the sun or moon. We explained to him the new method of calculation by means of Jupiter's satellites, whose ephemerides have been so excellent set out by the learned Cassini. I added that we should render a great service to their pilots, by giving them the exact longitude* of the Cape of Good Hope, which they computed only by means of their dead-reckonings, a very uncertain method which often deceived them very considerably. He replied that he would be very pleased, and that, since we wished to work on this investigation, he would offer us a place very suitable for making observations. At the same time he ordered a pavilion which stands in the Company's Garden*, to be prepared as a lodging for us during the Ambassador's stay in the harbour.
We answered, that the favour he accorded us extended beyond ourselves, and that
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we hoped the Ambassador would wish to thank him for it and participate in the boon. Then we showed him our Letters-Patent as mathematicians of the King, which we have already mentioned. ‘You add to my pleasure, Fathers’, the Commissioner continued, ‘by letting me see that I am fulfilling the will and the orders of the greatest monarch on earth, for whom I shall always have a profound respect; and yet I am not sorry that it is only after constraining you to accept the lodging which I offer you with all my heart, that you speak to me of them’. Then they brought in tea, as is the custom among the nations of the East Indies, and, after a sufficiently long conversation on many different subjects, we took our leave of these gentlemen. The Commander accompanied us to the dwelling that they had offered us in the Company's large Garden.
Great was our surprise to find, in a land that seems the most sterile and horrible in the world, one of the fairest and most interesting gardens that I have ever seen. It is situated higher up than the houses, between the little town and the Table Mountain, and near the fortress, from which it is distant only two hundred yards or thereabout. It is 1411 ordinary paces long and 235 wide [say 35 morgen*]. Its beauty does not lie in flower-beds and fountains, as in the gardens of France: these could easily be had here, if the Dutch Company wished to undertake the expense, since there is a stream of fresh water which comes down from the mountain and flows through the garden. But there are avenues there as far as the eye can see, of citron, pomegranate and orange trees, growing in the ground and protected from the wind by thick and high hedges of a sort of laurel that they call spek, which is always green and not unlike filaria. By the arrangement of its avenues this garden is divided into several fair-sized squares, some of which are filled with fruittrees such as apple, pear, quince, apricot and other European fruits. Then also there are pineapple, banana and other plants which bear the rarest fruits found anywhere in the world, these having been transported hither and carefully cultivated. Other squares are planted with roots, vegetables and herbs, and some with the choicest flowers of Europe, with others of singular perfume and beauty that were unknown to us. The gentlemen of the East-India Company, to whom it belongs, as we have already said, ordered its construction so as always to have in this place as if a storehouse of all sorts of refreshing for their outward- and homeward-bound vessels, which never fail to touch at the Cape of Good Hope....
The ships which come from the Indies arrive here at the beginning of March, singly or several together, and there await the fleet from Europe, which arrives there in April. In this manner they learn the news, whether they are at war or not, and [those of each fleet] leave all together so as to be sure against any attacks by pirates or by enemies, by reason of their large number and the strength of their ships.
At the entrance to the Garden they have built a large structure, where dwell the Company's slaves, in number, it is said, about five hundred, of whom some are employed in the cultivation of the garden and the rest at other necessary tasks. Towards the middle of the wall, on the side facing the fortress, there is a little pavilion in which no one lives. The ground floor contains an open vestibule that looks towards the fort and the garden,
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with two rooms on either side. Above there is a chamber open on all sides, between two terraces paved with bricks and surrounded by balustrades, one of which faces North and the other South. This pavilion seemed to have been built expressly for our purpose, since from one side we beheld all the northern sky, the view that was essential to us since it is the noonday side in this land. While they were preparing the pavilion, which like the Dutch I shall call our observatory, we returned aboard, to give account to the Ambassador and the Fathers of all that had taken place.
On the following day the Commissioner-General and the Commander sent aboard all sorts of refreshing. The officer whose duty it was to make this present to the Ambassador, told us that these gentlemen had also sent a boat to take us ashore with our mathematical instruments. As we had, during the night, prepared the ones we thought we would need, they were put into the boat, and in this manner we repaired to the observatory on the 2nd of June of the year 1685.
A seconds-clock, made in Paris by Monsieur Thuret, having been set as near to the true time as we could guess, we began the following observations: At three minutes past eleven, by this as-yet uncorrected clock, the first satellite appeared distant from Jupiter a little less than the planet's diameter. Through the telescope we observed two parallel bands on the planet itself, the wider one towards the southern edge, the narrower towards the northern. At 11.57′ 30″ the first satellite began to touch the rim of Jupiter: at 11.58′ 50″ the satellite had disappeared. We made these observations with an excellent twelvefoot telescope made by the late Monsieur Le Bas: the times given are always those of the uncorrected clock. We continued observing Jupiter until five minutes past two in the morning, when it disappeared behind the Lion Mountain, by which our view was bounded on the West: we were therefore unable on that night to witness the emersion of the first satellite.
[Observations recorded on June 3 for the correction of the clock; and of the declination*, ‘11½ degrees North-West’.]
On the night of June 3, as we had no special observation to make, we examined some of the fixed stars through the twelve-foot telescope.
The foot of the Cross ... is a double star, that is to say, it is composed of two bright stars, distant one from the other by only about their diameter, somewhat like the more northerly of the Twins - not to mention a third star, further away and much smaller.
Under the Cross, in the Milky Way, there are several patches which in the telescope appear to be filled with an infinite number of stars.
The two Clouds that are near the South Pole do not appear to be a mass of stars like Praesepe in Cancer, nor are they of a sombre light like the nebula in Andromeda. Through the big telescopes next to nothing can be seen, although to the naked eye they seem quite white, especially the bigger cloud.
Nothing in the sky is so beautiful as the constellations of Centaurus and Argo. Close to the Pole there are no bright stars, but there are a quantity of little ones. Bayer and the other books that speak of them omit several, and the majority of those which they
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do give are not located in the right positions.
[Observations recorded on June 4, for the correction of the clock.]
On Monday [June 4] after dinner we went to the fortress to visit the gentlemen, to give them an account of the observations we had already made, and of the one we proposed to make that evening, by which alone could the true longitude of the Cape be determined. On our return all the gentlemen wanted to come with us to witness this observation. We were all together on the terrace busy showing them our instruments, which they thought beautiful and interesting, when we perceived the Ambassador, who had come ashore incognito on the previous evening for a stroll in the Garden, and had found it so pleasant that he had now come again and was walking along an avenue accompanied by most of the officers of the two ships and by the gentlemen of his suite. From the time of our arrival the Ambassador and the Commissioner had exchanged many compliments, and not a day had passed without gifts being sent. As soon as Monsieur Vanrhêden now saw him, he at once went down from the terrace where he had been observing with us, and accompanied the Ambassador for a turn or two in the avenues as if the meeting were a matter of chance, the interview passing off to the entire satisfaction of one and the other [dr].
After they separated, the Commissioner, Saint-Martin, Vanderstel and Bocheros remained with us in the observatory until ten o'clock in the evening.
The emersion of the first satellite took place at 10 hours 5 minutes 40 seconds by the uncorrected clock.... After the emersion of the first satellite from the shadow of Jupiter, and having compared the observations of the height of the sun made in the mornings and evenings of June 3 and 4 ... it was found that the clock was ahead of the sun on both days by 28 minutes [so that] the true time of emersion was 9 hours 37 min. 40 sec.... His [Cassini's] tables of eclipses calculated to the nearest second give this same emersion as at 8:25:40:, [so that] the difference of meridians between the Cape of Good Hope and Paris is of 1 hour 12 minutes, that is to say 18o difference of longitude [actually 16o 10′]. Thus, taking the longitude* of Paris from the first meridian passing through the Isle of Fer [Hierro], the most westerly of the Canaries, as 22½ degrees according to the same author [actually 20o16′], the longitude of the Cape from that same meridian will be forty degrees and a half, little different from that given by the modern charts.
The following day, Tuesday June 8, these gentlemen returned to the observatory, and remained there until about two o'clock in the afternoon, watching us take the height and distance of the Table Mountain, and examining our instruments. More particularly did we explain to them the use of the equinoctial quadrant, by means of which we ascertained the variation [Declination*] of the compass-needle, which on that day again proved to be eleven and a half degrees North-West.
Thus two advantages can be derived from these observations. The first is the variation of the compass, which, by means of the astronomical circle, we found to be eleven and a half degrees North-West. The second is the longitude of the Cape, based on this emersion of the first satellite of Jupiter, which, on the meridian of Paris, was due to
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occur at eight hours twenty-six minutes [more exactly 8h. 25′ 40″ as above] in the evening. Having observed that it took place at the Cape at nine hours 37′ 40″, we found a difference of one hour and twelve minutes between the meridians of the two places, which converted into degrees, gives eighteen. Consequently the [? older] charts are defective, and place the Cape nearly three degrees more to the East than it is in reality. The Abbé de Choisy wished to see this for himself, and for some time deigned to live with us the life of an astronomer.
Towards evening we received a message from the ship, telling us to be aboard early on the following day. All six of us went at once to the fort to take our leave of the Dutch gentlemen and express our gratitude to them, for it is indeed true that the courtesy and hospitality we received from them could not be exceeded. We even found, when we returned to the ship, gifts of tea and Canary wine that the Commander had sent us, indebted, as he thought he was to us, for a microscope and a small burning-glass we had given him.
All these gentlemen were apparently very affected at our departure. ‘We pray God’, they said as they embraced us tenderly, ‘that the object for which you are going to China may be happily realised, and that you may lead many infidels to a knowledge of the true God’. We left them at last, deeply touched by their kindnesses and their attentions. As we passed through the Commander's apartment, he showed us two little fishes, about the length of a finger, in a tank full of water. The Portuguese call the one a gold fish and the other a silver fish, because the tail of the male indeed appears golden while that of the female is silvery. He told us that these fish come from China, and that persons of position in that land as well as the Japanese prize them greatly and keep them in their houses as objects of curiosity. We have since seen them in Batavia in the palace of the [Governor-]General, and in Siam in the residence of Seigneur Constance, chief minister of that kingdom, and in the houses of some Chinese mandarins.
The Ambassador had requested Monsieur Van-Rheden to write to the Governor-General in Batavia so that he should provide us with a pilot to take us to Siam, and the Commissioner had expressed his pleasure in executing this request. On the next day, therefore, he sent the Ambassador a most gracious letter for the [Governor-]General, in which he did not omit to add at the end, of himself and without our asking it, some very kind words about ourselves. We spent the night in repacking our instruments, and before daybreak we embarked in a shallop* placed at our disposition by the Commander, and so returned aboard.
This is what happened at the Cape as far as our astronomical observations are concerned. Although we worked at them night and day, they were however not our sole occupations. No sooner had we settled into our little observatory, than the Catholics of the Colony, who are there in considerable numbers, heard of it and expressed their great joy thereat. Morning and evening they came in secret to visit us. They were of every nationality and of every condition in life, some free-born, others slaves, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Flemish and Indian. Those who could not express themselves
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[35] Hottentots dwelling at the Cape of Good Hope From item 55, by Claudius: the text (page 286) calls them ‘Sonqua’, but this is doubtful. The huts are of course ridiculous.
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otherwise owing to our ignorance of their language, fell on their knees and sought to kiss our hands. They pulled forth their beads, and the medals round their necks to show that they were Catholics: they wept and struck their breasts. This language of the heart, much more touching than words, affected us profoundly, and constrained us to embrace these poor people whom the love of Jesus Christ made us regard as brothers. We comforted them as best we could, exhorting them all to perservere in the faith of Jesus Christ, to serve their masters faithfully and obediently, and to support with patience their trials. Particularly did we recommend them to examine their consciences at night, and to honour the Holy Virgin as the One who could obtain for them the grace to live as Christians and be preserved from heresy. Those who spoke French, Latin, Portuguese or Spanish were confessed. We visited the sick in their homes and in the hospital. That was all we could do for their consolation in so little time, for neither were they permitted to come on board to hear Mass, nor were we allowed to say it on shore. And yet we must have been suspected of taking them communion, since two of our Fathers, coming one day from the ship with a microscope cased in gilt morocco leather, were accosted on the beach by two or three of the inhabitants, who imagined that it was the Holy Sacrament that was being taken to the Catholics in a box. They approached the Fathers to ascertain the truth: he told them what it was, and, to convince them, had them look through the microscope. Then one of them said: ‘I had indeed thought so, for I know you to be most bitter foes of our religion’. At that we simply smiled and without making any reply went straight to the fortress.
All that remains for me to say about the Cape of Good Hope has to do with what we learned about the state of the country, for some of our Fathers were allotted the task of making enquiries as to this while the others worked at our observations. In the various interviews we had with M. Vanderstellen we endeavoured to obtain all the information we could for this purpose. We also made the acquaintance of a young doctor from Breslau in Silesia, named M. Claudius*, whom the Dutch maintain at the Cape on account of his ability. As he has already travelled in China and Japan, where he acquired the habit of noting everything, and as he draws and paints to perfection both animals and plants, the Dutch keep him there in order to assist them in the exploration of new regions and to work at a natural history of Africa. He has already completed two thick folio volumes of various plants [see plates 48-50], painted from nature, and has collected specimens of all kinds which he has pasted into another volume. Doubtless M. Van-Rhêden, who always keeps these books in his own apartment and showed them to us, intends publishing soon a ‘Hortus Africus’, after his ‘Hortus Malabaricus’. Had these books been for sale we would have spared nothing to send them to the Royal Library. As this learned Doctor had already made several journeys, to a distance of one hundred and twenty leagues North and East of the Cape to make new discoveries, it is from him that we obtained all our knowledge of the country. He gave us a little map made by his own hand, and some drawings of the inhabitants and animals which I am inserting in my book [Plates 33 to 43].
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When the Dutch perceived that an establishment here would be convenient for the ships they annually send to the Indies, they entered into an agreement with the principal chiefs of the native tribes, who, for a certain quantity of tobacco and brandy [see ‘Bought*’] consented to retire further into the interior and to cede the land there. This arrangement was made about the year 1653 [sic: dr 13/4/72], and since that time the Dutch have worked hard to establish themselves firmly at the Cape. They now possess a town* of considerable size, and a fort* of five bastions, which commands all the roadstead. The climate is very good, and corn grows as in Europe. They have planted vineyards, which yield a very delicate wine. Game is found in abundance everywhere: our officers returned from shooting with roebuck, gazelles, pheasants, and a quantity of partridges as large as pullets in France. Oxen and sheep are obtained further inland, from the savages. This traffic may be undertaken only by those of the countryside [‘ceux de la Campagne’: ? error for ‘ceux de la Compagnie’ - see Trade*], who purchase the cattle for a little tobacco, and afterwards sell them to the inhabitants of the Cape and to foreigners who come seeking refreshing. We saw sheep that weighed up to eighty pounds and were excellent eating.
Civet-cats are also found, and many wild cats, lions and tigers with very lovely skins, and above all large monkeys which at times come in bands from the Table Mountain into the private gardens, to carry off the melons and other fruits. At nine or ten leagues to the East of the Cape there is a mountain range [Bottelaryberg], full of lions, elephants and rhinoceroses of a prodigious size. Trustworthy persons who have travelled have assured me that they found an elephant's footprint of two and a half feet in diameter, and that they saw various rhinoceroses of the size and height of an average elephant. All that I can say regarding this, is that I saw the two horns which this animal carries on its nose, fixed together as they are naturally, of a size and weight which
[36] Rhinoceros. From item 55: certainly not by Claudius, since the legendary and false armour-plated skin is shown.
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[37] Zebras or Wild Asses at the Cape From item 55, almost certainly by Claudius.
inclined me to believe what I was told. The Lieutenant of the Fort [Ensign Isaac Schryver] who was with this journey, told me that the rhinoceros when enraged thrusts its larger horn into the earth, making a sort of furrow until it comes near to whoever hit it. The skin of this animal is so tough as to be musket-proof, unless one waits to shoot it until it exposes its flank, the only part of its body which can be wounded by firearms or by the halberds with which the travellers are armed. Horses and asses of a rare beauty have been seen. The former have extremely small heads and somewhat long ears: they are entirely covered with vertical black and white stripes of the width of five fingers, which give a very pleasing effect [Zebras, though usually ‘wild asses’ as in his Plate 37]. I saw the skin of one which had been killed, bought by the Ambassador to take to France as a great curiosity. As to the asses [Quaggas], they are of all colours, with a wide blue stripe on the back from head to tail, and the rest of the body covered, like that of the horse, with pretty wide stripes of blue, yellow, green, black and white, all very vivid colours.
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[38] Deer of the Cape. From item 55, probably by Claudius.
Deer are in such abundance here that they are found in herds like sheep, and I have heard the Commander's Secretary [Grevenbroek] and the Commander himself say that they had seen up to ten thousand together in an open plain which they met with in the forests [suggests Springbok]. There are not so many tigers or lions as there are deer, but nevertheless there are many; and this I have no difficulty in believing because of the large number of skins of these animals which is sold at the Cape. They do not altogether remain in the forests only, but at times come even into the populated regions, where they attack everything they meet with, even men. There was an example of this while we were there: it was the Commissioner-General who told me of it. Two men, walking far from the houses, saw a tiger. One shot at it and missed, and the tiger at once leapt on him and knocked him down: the other, seeing the extreme danger of his comrade, fired at the tiger but wounded his comrade in the thigh; but the tiger, without having been wounded, left its prey and attacked the second man, at which the first one got to his feet and killed the tiger in time to save his friend. It is said, that this animal has the instinct to attack, out of a hundred persons, the one who has fired at it, and ignore all the others but make for this one only. A month previously an almost similar accident occurred with a lion, which tore apart a man and his servant pretty near the houses, and was itself killed afterwards.
In fishing at the Cape we caught a quantity of excellent fish, amongst others mullets and those called dorades in France, which are very different from the real dorade, this latter being larger and better deserving its name from its yellowish colouring with golden tints, which cause it to be regarded as one of the most handsome of sea-fish. Soles were found in great numbers, and a few ‘torpedoes’, which are soft to the touch and very ugly. When touched, it has the property of causing a sensation of numbness in the hand and arm. We saw many sea-wolves, which seem well named. There are also Binguins, large aquatic birds, which are veritable amphibians, seldom out of the water.
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In the year sixteen hundred and eighty-one M. de Vanderstel founded a new Colony composed of eighty-two families [sic: eight only, Letter 20/3/81], nine or ten leagues inland, and gave it the name of Hellenbok [Stellenbosch].
Some folk feel sure that at the Cape there are gold-deposits. We were shown stones found there, which seem to confirm this opinion, since they are heavy, and under the microscope show everywhere small particles which resemble gold.
But we found nothing at the Cape more curious that an exact map of the surroundings recently discovered by the Dutch, together with a Latin note of the peoples living
[39] ‘Map of the Lands and Peoples of the Cape of Good Hope’ From item 55: full of errors-False Cape is identified with Cape Agulhas and both are shown at Cape Point; the Cape of Good Hope is located at Mouille Point; ‘Robin’ Island is shown outside Table Bay; etc. It is difficult to believe (page 281) that Claudius drew this.
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there. Both these were given me by a trustworthy person [Claudius*] who has noted down nothing which he has not himself seen, and of which the following is an exact translation:
‘The most southerly point of Africa is not less distant from Europe than are the customs of the inhabitants different from ours, since these peoples are ignorant of the creation of the world, the Redemption of man, and the mystery of the most holy Trinity. Nevertheless they adore a God, but their knowledge of him is very confused. In his honour they slaughter cows and sheep, offering him their flesh and milk as sacrifices, to show their gratitude to this deity who gives them, they think, now the rain, now the fine weather, according to their needs. They do not expect any other life after this one. With all this, they do not lack some good qualities which should prevent us from despising them, since they have more charity and faithfulness one to another than are usually found among Christians. Adultery and theft are capital crimes for them, always punished by death. Although each man is allowed to take as many wives as he can support, no one is found, even among the richest, who has more than three.
These folk are divided into various tribes, all of which live in the same manner. Their usual food is the milk and meat of the herds which they rear in great numbers. Each of these tribes has its Chief or Captain, whom it obeys. This post is hereditary, and passes from father to son. The eldest have the right of succession, and in order to preserve their authority and standing, they are the sole heirs of their fathers, the younger sons inheriting nothing except the duty of serving their elders. Their clothing is only plain sheepskins with the wool, dressed with cow-dung and a certain grease which makes them insufferable to sight and smell. The first tribe is called Sonquas in the language of the country, of whom I give here a picture from nature [Plate 35]. The Europeans call these folk Hottentots, perhaps because they continually say this word [see Hottentots*, Name] when they meet strangers. Because they are agile, robust, hardy, and more skilled than the others in the use of arms, that is to say of assegais and arrows, they go to serve with other tribes as soldiers, and thus there is no tribe which has not Sonquas among their troops in addition to their own people. In their own country they live in deep caves, or sometimes in houses like the others. Hunting, in which they are very skilled, gives them a good part of their food: they kill elephants, rhinoceroses, elands, deer, gazelles, roebuck and many other kinds of animals, of which there is a prodigious quantity at the Cape. At certain times they also collect the honey made by the bees in the hollows of trees and rocks.’
I will interrupt this account for a moment, in order to tell what we saw of them ourselves, and what we learned about them from trustworthy persons. These people, convinced that there is no other life, do only what is necessary to pass this one quietly. According to them, even to such as serve the Dutch to earn a little bread, tobacco and brandy, these Dutch are slaves who cultivate the lands which really belong to them, and are faint-hearted folk who take shelter from their enemies in forts and houses: whereas they fearlessly camp wherever they will ... and disdain to plough the land. They main- | |
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tain that this manner of life shows that they are the true owners of the country, and the happiest of men, since they alone live in peace and freedom; and in that, they say, their happiness consists. When we were in the Company's Garden one of their chiefs, noticing the civilities which the chiefs of the Dutch were showing us, came to the observatory, and, meeting with Father Fontenay, presented him with two oranges, saying in Portuguese: ‘Reverend Father, Hottentot general to your highness’, wishing in this manner to indicate the joy his Captain and his people had at our coming.
In spite of the good opinion they have of themselves, they lead a miserable existence. They are dirty to excess, and it seems that they try to make themselves hideous. When they wish to adorn themselves they rub their heads, faces and hands with the soot from the cooking-pots, and when they have none of this, they have recourse to a certain black grease, which renders them so stinking and hideous that one cannot bear to be near them. From this it results that their hair, which in fact is naturally almost as woolly as the hair of negroes, is reduced to little tufts, to which they affix pieces of copper or glass. The more important among them have, as additional ornaments, large ivory rings worn on their arms above and below the elbow. Their food is even more surprising: they regard as a delicate dish the vermin that breed in the skins they wear. We saw this more than once, otherwise we could never have believed it. The women, in addition to this clothing, wind around their legs the guts of animals, or little pieces of hides cut for the purpose: this they do to protect themselves from the pricks of thorns as they go through the woods, and in order also to have a meal handy in case of need. Their finery consists of different-coloured bones which they put around their necks and waists, and thick copper rings which they wear upon their arms.
Barbarism has not however so completely effaced all traces of humanity that no vestige of virtue remains. They are faithful, and the Dutch give them free access to their houses without fear of being robbed by them. It is said, however, that they have less restraint with foreigners and new-comers from Holland, who cannot recognise them to have them punished. They are charitable and helpful, although they possess scarcely anything. When given something that can be divided, they share it with the first of their fellows they meet: they even seek out their companions with this intention, and they usually keep the smallest portion for themselves.
When any among them is convicted of a capital crime such as theft or adultery, the Captain and the principal men assemble, and after trying the criminal they themselves carry out the sentence: they kill him with clubs, each giving him a blow in order according to his rank and standing, after the Captain has had the honour of beginning; or also they pierce him with their assegais. They are said to be astrologers and herbalists, and reliable persons assured us that they know the sky pretty well, and that they can distinguish simples, even at night by touch and smell. They are jealous for their liberty, even to excess. The Commandeur told us that he had wished to tame one, by making him his servant when young; but when he grew up he had to be given leave to go, which he continually asked for, saying that he could not subject himself to the constraint of a
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[40] ‘Namaqua Tribes discovered towards the Tropic of Capricorn’. From item 55, undoubtedly by Claudius.
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regular life, that the Dutch and suchlike nations were the slaves of the soil and the Hottentots its masters, that they were not compelled continually to carry their hats under their arms and to observe a hundred inconvenient customs, that they ate when they were hungry, following in this no other rules but those of nature. For the rest, they are gay, lively, of few words, and seem to be intelligent.
They have some very bizarre customs. When a woman has lost her first husband, then each time she remarries she must cut away a joint of her fingers, beginning with the little finger. The men are made semi-eunuchs in youth, it being asserted that this greatly helps to preserve and increase their agility. They are all either hunters or shepherds: the former live in caves from what they can kill, the latter from their herds and their milkproducts, and dwell in huts made from the branches of trees covered with skins and mats, shaped like tents, the doorway being so low that one can enter only on all fours. Four or five families [sic] live in one of these huts, which is only about six geometric paces in circumference: the fire is made in the centre, and the apartments are distinguished only by holes cut two feet deep into the ground. Let us now continue the description we interrupted:
‘The second tribe is that of the Namaquas, of whom you see here the picture [Plate 40]. We discovered them for the first time in 1682 [see the next paragraph]: we entered their village, and sent some tobacco, a pipe, brandy, a knife, and some coral beads, by the hands of some of the Caffers who served us as guides. Their Captain accepted our small presents, and in return sent us two fat sheep, of which each of the tails weighed more than twenty pounds, together with a large beaker full of milk, and a certain herb which they call Kanna.’ This is apparently the famous plant which the Chinese call Ginsseng, since M. Claudius, who has seen it in China, assures us that he found two plants of it at the Cape, and showed us the complete picture of it which he had painted from nature, ... in the form which you may see engraved with the Sonquas [Plate 35; but see Canna* in the index]. ‘They use Kanna as often as the Indians use betel and areca. Next day one of their Captains came to see us: he was a man whose great height and a certain air of pride recognisable in his face made him respected by his people. He brought with him fifty young men, and as many women and girls. Each man had in his hand a flute* made from a certain reed, very neatly worked, which gave a very pleasing sound. At a sign made by the Captain they began to play these instruments all together, to which the women and girls added their voices and the sound of hand-clapping. These two groups of people were arranged in two circles, one within the other, the first, formed by the men, outside and enclosing the second, that of the women. Both danced thus in circles, the men moving to the right and the women to the left, while an old man, standing in the centre of them with a stick in his hand, marked the time and regulated the beat. Heard from a distance their music sounded pleasing, and even harmonious enough; but their dance had nothing of exactitude and was indeed nothing but a
confusion.
Actually discovered in 1661 (DR 10, 11/3): Bergh's 1682 expedition (which Claudius accompanied) met a few stragglers only. The account on page 291 contradicts the circular
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movement of the dancers, but adds the tuning of the reed-pipes and the conductor's horn: neither of these two latter are in the 1661 account nor in that of 1685 (Valentyn X71).
‘These Namaquas are much esteemed among the tribes, being considered brave, warlike, and powerful although their greatest strength does not exceed two thousand men under arms. They are all tall and robust. They have a natural good sense, and when asked a question reply only after having well weighed their words, and all their replies are short and given seriously. They laugh rarely, and speak little: their women seem crafty, and are nothing like so serious as are the men.
The third tribe is that of the Ubiquas. They are thieves by trade, robbing the Africans as well as foreigners. Although they cannot muster five hundred men it is not easy to destroy them, because they retreat into inaccessible mountains.
The Gouriquas are the fourth of the tribes, and are not many in number. The Ilassiquas [? Hessequas] are the fifth, larger in size, rich and powerful but little experienced in war unlike the sixth, that is to say the Gouriquas [sic: “fourth” above], who are very warlike. The seventh tribe is that of the Sousequas [Chainouqua], and the Odiquas are their allies.’
[41] Sea Cow (Hippopotamus). From item 55, perhaps by Claudius.
In the large rivers a monstrous animal is to be seen, called Sea-Cow, as large as the Rhinoceros: its flesh, or better said its fat, is good to eat and very tasty. I have set its picture here [Plate 41].
As regards trees, plants, and flowers, there is an infinite number of them, and very interesting ones, both for their beauty and their special qualities.
In the voyage made [actually in 1685-86, so that all this should be in his item 59], which lasted five full months, the expedition* pressed northwards as far as the Tropic [of Capricorn: sic]: that is to say that two hundred leagues of country were explored, keeping always ten or twelve leagues from the sea to the West. Commandeur Vanderstell himself was with it, accompanied by fifty-eight well-armed men. He took along his coach, and forty wagons, together with twenty-eight horses, three hundred sheep and one
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hundred and fifty oxen, these last carrying the baggage and pulling the wagons, the sheep serving for food for the travellers. He left the Cape of Good Hope with his party at the end of May [sic: August], winter time in this country: he chose this season in order not to lack water and grazing on the deserts which had to be traversed. Various different tribes were discovered towards the twenty-eighth degree of latitude, living in a pleasant country abounding with all sorts of fruits and animals. Before arriving there they met with a number of deserts and mountains, one of these being so high that the Commandeur assured us that it took them forty days to reach the top. They all expected to die of thirst with their animals, and were often in danger of being devoured by the wild beasts which they met with in quantities. He himself had much ado to save himself from an enormously large rhinoceros, which came within three paces of him ready to tear him up, had he not evaded it by throwing himself to one side and thus getting out of sight of the animal, which for a long time searched for him in order to tear him apart.
But when they arrived at the twenty-seventh degree of latitude, ten or twelve leagues from the seashore, they met a very large tribe, much more docile than all those encountered until then [Namaqua]. M. Vanderstell had taken with him two trumpeters, some oboe-players, and five or six violinists: as soon as they heard the sound of these instruments a crowd of them came, and brought their musicians, nearly thirty in number, almost all of whom had different instruments. The one in the centre had a sort of very long mouthpiece-horn, made from the gut of an ox dried and shaped: the others had flageolets and flutes* made from reeds, of varying thicknesses and lengths. They hollow out these instruments much like ours, but with the difference that there is one hole only, extending from one end to the other and much wider than that of the flutes and flageolets generally used in France. To tune them to one another, they make use of a disc with a small opening in the centre, which they move within the tube by means of a rod, according to the note which they wish to produce. They hold their instrument in one hand, and with the other they press the instrument against their lips so that all their breath enters the tube. This music is simple, but harmonious. The leader, after making all the other musicians tune their instruments by the sound of the horn, which is close to him, gives them the tune which they are to play, and beats the time with a long rod which can be seen by everyone.
The music is always accompanied by dancing, which consists of leaps and certain foot-movements made without moving from where each is standing. The women and girls make a large circle around the dancers, and merely clap their hands and sometimes stamp their feet, in time with the music. Those who play on the instruments are the only ones who change their positions when dancing, but the conductor remains standing in his place to regulate the tune and the time.
The men are well-made and robust, with long hair loose on their shoulders. Their weapons are arrows and zagayes, which have a certain likeness to lances: their clothing consists of a long cloak of tigerskin down to their heels. Among them some are found as white as Europeans, but they blacken themselves with grease and a certain black stone
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powdered, with which they rub their faces and all their bodies. Since there are many and very rare herbs in their lands and forests they are all herbalists. Many have a good knowledge of minerals, which they can smelt and prepare, but they esteem these little, perhaps because there are a large number of gold-; silver-, and copper deposits in their country. Their women are by nature very white, but in order to please their husbands they blacken themselves as do these. Those who are married have the top of the head shaven, and large pointed shells on their ears. They cover themselves with tiger-cat skins tied with thongs around their bodies.
This tribe greatly esteem a certain substance found only in the heart of certain rocks, pretty hard and very dark in colour: experience has taught them that this mineral has a miraculous effect in delivering women in difficult childbirth, and in similarly aiding their cows, ewes and goats. When the Dutch blew up a large rock in which there was much of this, and took it away, they showed as much regret and complaining as if a great treasure had been taken from them. When I returned [in 1686, item 59] I was given a piece of this mineral, with some others that had been found in that country.
Various sorts of animals and insects are also found, of the most important of which I give the pictures [Plates 33, 42, 43]. The first is of a horned serpent, called Ceraste, never seen until now, of which the venom is extraordinarily dangerous. The second is a chameleon, which takes on all sorts of colourings, and the call of which resembles that of a cat. The third is a lizard: when hit it complains like a crying child, and when angry it lifts up the scales with which it is entirely covered. Its tongue is bluish and very long, and when one nears it, it is heard to blow very violently. Another lizard is also found, the bite of which is not so dangerous as that of the first-named.
From all that I have just said, it may well be seen that this part of Africa is not less populous, less rich, nor less fertile in all sorts of fruits and animals than the other parts already discovered, although it has been so long neglected. The peoples that inhabit it are neither cruel nor fierce, and do not lack docility and wit. Every day this is becoming clearer. But their great misfortune, which cannot sufficiently be deplored, is that so many and so populous tribes have no knowledge of the true God, and that no one tries to instruct them. It is true that all their lands are entered, that they are visited even in the thickest forests, that their burning deserts are traversed and their steepest mountains scaled with much toil, cost and danger; but all this is done only to discover their mines, to know the wealth of their lands, to learn their secrets and the value of their herbs, and to become rich from their trade. This enterprise, and the execution of a task so great and so difficult, would truly be very praiseworthy if zeal for the salvation of their souls had even a small part in them, and if in trading with them they were taught the path to Heaven and the eternal truths.
Zealous missionaries who would regard these peoples as redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and as well able, savages as they are, to glorify God to all eternity as are the most civilised nations - such would be most necessary in this distant part of Africa. They would first aid the Catholics of the Cape, who for many years go without Masses and
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[42] Chameleon of the Cape and Small Lizard of the Cape. From item 55, both probably by Claudius.
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Sacraments for lack of Priests: at the same time they would teach the Hottentots already contacted, and the more easily to be gained to Jesus Christ in that they have no great vices to keep them from Christianity. And later it would be possible to penetrate among the most distant peoples, of whom many would without doubt be brought, by the Grace of God, to the sheepfold of the Saviour.
Such are the particulars about the Cape that we learnt of during our stay. It had been arranged to weigh anchor on the 6th of June, and everyone was on board by that morning; but lack of wind prevented us from leaving. Early on the 7th a light wind came from the North, so we set sail about 7 o'clock, and after tacking about a little to pass the Lion's Tail we doubled the Cape without difficulty [dr].... [Scurvy rife. Bantam. Batavia August 18. Siam September 22.]
[43] Large Lizard of the Cape. From item 55, probably by Claudius.
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