Briefwisseling oor Kaapse sake 1778-1792

[p. 302]

II Cloete to Swellengrebel:
‘Kaapsche nouvelles’: 19.3.1778-15.2.1779

1778, March 19th. The vessel Vreedenhoff brought the news that Prince William V has appointed Pieter Hacker as secunde in the vacancy created by the death of Otto Luder Hemmij.

March 24th. Skipper Damiaan Hugo Staring has been appointed member of the Council of Policy in the place of Dirk Westerhoff who is no longer able to carry on his functions owing to poor sight, but will remain in possession of his entire salary and emoluments. Consequential promotions are those of J.C. van der Spuy, S. van Echten, J.A. van Schoor and G.E. Timmer. New members of the Council of Justice are J.F. Kirsten, J.C. van der Spuy, O.G. de Wet and G.H. Cruywagen.

Between the 1st and the 12th of April. Have heard that P.L. le Sueur has bought the residence of the late Governor Swellengrebel for f54 000 from the present Governor and has sold his own property for f20 000 to P.D. Boonacker, who was landdrost of Swellendam.

April 13th. Was informed that my good friend J. van der Spuy died yesterday evening at 6 o'clock from diarrhoea.

April 26th. Was informed that the wife of Wouter de Vos died in childbirth.

30th April. I heard from my servant Pieter Swanepoel that black hail had fallen on Christmas day in the Camdebo. The stones were bigger than the biggest goose-eggs, which destroyed the harvests and damaged the trees and killed ostriches and hartebeests. The animals that were not lying dead on the veldt, were knocked silly.

June 28th. Have been informed that our new cashier. Jan Adriaan van Schoor died Friday the 26th at the age of 23 years. As cashier in his place is G.H. Cruywagen, who was in charge of the Company's timber store, which has now been taken over by William van Oudshoorn.

At the same time I have been informed that more than 200 burghers came together on the 25th of this month in the garden of Jacob Schröder to discuss how they would protect their burgher-rights.

August 22nd. Your letter written the 19th of December 1777 arrived by the vessel Catwijk aan Rhijn. Yet on the 1st of August I had been told that the vessel through unknown circumstances had passed the Cape and found anchorage in the Bay of Content beyond Outeniqualand where Botha lives beside the Keurboomsriver. Thence the Catwijk returned to Table Bay.

August 24th. The English vessel Colebrooke hit an uncharted rock off the

[p. 303]

western coast of False Bay. The captain Arthur Morris managed to make use of the wind to lift the ship from the rock and attempted to beach it in Kogel Bay, but water came streaming through the hole and in the evening the ship split asunder near Cape Hangklip (Hanglip). Five or six of the crew perished. In the life-boat 49 passengers, women and crew drifted two days and two nights in the mist without being able to reach the land. At last they reached Swartklip. The wreck of the Colebrooke was sold by public auction to a tailor in Stellenbosch, F. Heineman, for Rds. 801.

September 3rd. The Hon. Governor left the Cape accompanied by Captain van der Heyde, Oloff de Wet and Dr. Johann Seyd. Their convoy consisted of 6 waggons of the Governor's; two belonging to the military detachment, and one to Robert Gordon, carrying a boat. At the farm of Wouter de Vos along the Hex River they were joined by a detachment of burghers from Stellenbosch: eight men under cornet Dirk Wouter Hoffman and corporal Jacobus de Wet.

September 8th. The company was joined by Robert Gordon who had crossed the Hottentots Holland Kloof some time before. Next day they travelled along the Swartberg and on the 11th of October they arrived on the farm of Johs. Jurgen de Beer in the Camdebo. On Gordon's recommendation the Governor and his entourage stayed there for two days. When he left he went with three waggons, the cornet, four men and seven farmers who lived in the vicinity. Amongst these were Johs. Jurgen de Beer and his two sons, with two waggons, and Carel van der Merwe who was in charge of the men. They travelled due north, through the kloof behind Johs. de Beer, passed the farm of Jochem Koekemoer, subsequently across the Sneeuberg to the farm of Carel van der Merwe and thence to the Great Seekoei River. They accomplished this journey in 6 days. The day before the Governor arrived, the company had out-spanned at a fountain called Zeyds-fontein, about 1½ hours distant from the river, in the hope of seeing hippopotami along the bank. Here, on Robert Gordon's recommendation, De Beer was installed as Field Commandant in place of Opperman, who had left the district.

The Governor remained two days beside the Zeekoei River and shot one of the 21 hippo's that were killed. The river was renamed Van Plettenberg's River and a beacon was erected. Then the company returned to the farm of De Beer and after a delay of two days began to move in the direction of the Fish River.

On the opposite side of Bruintjes Hoogte, on the farm of Willem Prinsloo, some farmers, from whom J.B. Hoffman, on his journey, had taken cattle, came with complaints to the Governor. They said they had been wronged: the animals were not bartered stock, but of their own breeding.

[p. 304]

If they could prove it by oath, the Governor said, he would see to it that they got their cattle back, or otherwise the declared value of the cattle taken. The farmers came back next day to confess their guilt and asked to be forgiven; promising not to barter any more cattle. The Governor forgave them on condition that they informed their landdrosts. The cattle were forfeited to the Government.

Soon afterwards Josua Joubert and Adriaan van Jaarsveld and some other farmers arrived to complain about the appointment of Johs. de Beer as Field Commandant, saying that he was the worst character in the whole region and they could not accept him. After being confronted by the Governor with the accusations against him, which he could not rebut, De Beer was demoted and vanished!

On this side of the Fish River the Governor visited the kraals of captain Coba and Codisa and told them that they had to move across the Fish which had become the boundary between them and the Christians. Thence the company went in a south eastern direction. After the first day's journey, at the farm of Jan Durant, Gordon took his leave and returned to the farm of De Beer, intending to return across the Great River towards the North. Two sons of De Beer, two Van der Walts and three others had promised to accompany him, but De Beer, no longer being Veld Commandant, retracted his promise and Gordon had to give up his plans. He pretended to be sick and departed to the Hex River, where he secretly arranged for fresh supplies to be sent to him and departed for the Hantam and the Sak River returning via the Kamiesberge across the Oliphants River to the Cape.

The painter Schumacher, well-known to you, spent some time with Gordon on this trip, but not being satisfied with the way he was treated, he left by agreement.

On Durant's farm a detachment from Swellendam of cornet Hilger Mulder, a corporal and eight men, relieved the detachment of soldiers from Stellenbosch. They met in the veldt, exactly on the boundary between Stellenbosch and Swellendam, between the Little Fish River and the Black Water. The commando from Stellenbosch, however, remained with the Governor.

When they reached the so-called ‘Duyvels Kop’ the Governor, with three wagons, made his way to ‘Bay Content’ which he renamed ‘Van Plettenbergs Baaij’. There he erected a beacon, and returned via Outeniqualand to Swellendam.

After giving them a gay farewell banquet he took his leave from all who had accompanied him save cornet D.W. Hoffman whom he retained to assist him with the final inspan on Hottentots Holland. Although Hoffman

[p. 305]

had difficulty in obtaining oxen there, the journey ended reasonably well.

After having rested for two days at Swellendam and spending another two days at Hottentots Holland, the Governor returned to the Cape on the 26th of November, which is your birthday. At Salt River he was welcomed by the Cape Cavalry, outside the Castle by the infantry and inside the Castle by Militia, with a cannon-salute and other signs of joy. N.B. Stellenbosch did nothing to welcome him.

November 1st.	Marten Melk married the widow of the late Hercules Adriaan Malan, née Maria Rosina Laubsch(e)r.
November 2nd.	Junior merchant and pay-master Johannes Cornelis van der Spuy died.
November 20th.	Johannes Conterman was badly burnt when a spark from the pipe of Stephanus Ferreira set alight 2 lbs. of gunpowder in a box under the seat of the wagon as they were passing through the drift at Bleumers.
December 1st.	Solomon van Echten succeeded Cornelis van der Spuy as paymaster and his own place as ledger clerk in the pay office was filled by the bookkeeper Johan David Storm. The Reverend Henricus Cronenburg asked to be retired on account of a weakness of his lungs. As he had officiated for many years, his request was granted and he retired on full pay.
December 11th.	I bought Groot Constantia from Mr. Jan Serrurier for f60 000 Indian valuation, also paying f30 000 for movable property.
December 15th.	At last we got rid of Marthinus Adrianus Bergh as landdrost of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein. His post was taken over by the secretary of the Orphan-chamber Oloff Godlieb de Wet, whose post is now taken over by Tobias Christiaan Rönnenkamp, first-grade clerk of the Council of Policy, who is in turn succeeded by Johannes Marthinus Horak. Whilst the Hon. Governor was on tour five farmers from the Drakenstein district asked the ministers of Cape Town to be allowed to have their children baptised where they wished, but not by the Rev. Van der Spuy. Their request was refused. Meanwhile there are several households where one or two (and it will soon be three) children have not been baptised, not only in Drakenstein. I dare not write any further particulars.

[p. 306]

December 31st.	In the Bleumer case, his wife's petition has been dismissed with costs. Her lawyer, my old friend Knockers has been mulcted Rds. 25 in aid of the poor for his scandalous remarks about me in the course of the proceedings.
1779 Jan. 19th.	Tieleman Roos requested leave to go to Europe on the pretext of plans to extend tobacco cultivation and set up a factory here. It was granted but only on condition that he must sell everything he possesses at the Cape and take his wife and children to Europe. This does not seem to please him.
February 12th.	P.M. Eksteen died three days after having suffered a stroke, aged 52.
February 15th.	J.D. Bleumer and his wife sued for a divorce. All their possessions to be sold by the Council of Justice and divided between them.