Briefwisseling oor Kaapse sake 1778-1792

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XXII Appendix A. A few considerations about the Cape

Present condition

For some time production of grain and wine has increased to the point where, in addition to local consumption and the Company's requirements for its ships and for the East Indies, there is enough to supply passing foreign ships and the French African Islands; and also to export several thousand muids of wheat for Europe.

The Company normally pays 8 Cape guilders per muid for wheat for its own use here and in the East Indies. That makes 80 florins for ten muids. Deducting tithe of 8 florins, it pays 72 florins. Converted into Rixdollars (of 48 stivers) that makes Rds. 24. For every 10 muid for export to Europe, the Company pays Rds. 18. Export began when the Colony had a surfeit of grain owing to a long absence of foreign ships; and the farmers were glad to get anything at all for their corn. The price of wheat sold to private purschases is very unstable. When foreigners take little and the harvest is plentiful it is very low, scarcely 15 to 16 Rds. for 10 muid; but if the harvest is poor and the demand is strong, it rises to Rds. 25 or Rds. 26 or more. When there is a strong demand, the farmers are not very keen to make delivery of their wheat to the Company for export to Europe at Rds. 18, as against the Rds. 24 which the Company pays for wheat for the East Indies. They consider it a burden to deliver wheat for Europe, and a favour to be allowed to deliver it for the Indies. They therefore easily gain an impression that there is a lack of fair play: that the amounts ostensibly purchased for the Indies are less than they really are and the amounts ostensibly purchased for Europe are greater than they really are. Suspicions are also aroused that one farmer is favoured over another.

If the farmer lives further away from the Cape than a single night's journey, he cannot supply wheat for the low price of Rds. 18 or even less, because of the high cost of farming. For example, a first-rate slave who knows his job costs up to Rds. 600. He would probably have been born here; those imported as adults never get beyond pick and shovel work. Even for one of these, if sturdy and healthy, Rds. 200 to Rds. 250 must be paid. If the farmer has to hire slaves from somebody else, he must pay for one trained in farming 4 schellings per day, plus food.

Coals must now be purchased from the Company for as much as Rds. 18 per chaldron of 32 bushels - once it was Rds. 13. For 100 lbs. iron he must pay Rds. 8 - formerly Rds. 5. Timber imported from Europe is just as dear. The closest natural forest from which good local timber can be hauled is in Outeniqualand, situated some distance from Mossel Bay -

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so that it has to be dragged overland with difficulty for a distance of 9 to 10 days' journey. Hence yellow-wood beams and planks are inordinately dear; for example a beam 5 inches × 6 inches and 18 feet long costs Rds. 5. The scarcity and high cost of timber is the reason why most houses further away than Stellenbosch and Drakenstein have no ceilings. A plough with yokes and chains costs some Rds. 57. A set of blades for a harrow is Rds. 12 and the woodwork Rds. 4 - total Rds. 16. An ordinary ox-waggon costs at least Rds. 150 and with yokes and traces, Rds. 173. Thus, before a farmer can set a plough at work, he has an outlay of Rds. 1137; viz. Plough, yoke and harness, Rds. 57, 2 first rate slaves (1 to manage the team and 1 to plough), Rds. 800; 1 imported slave as voorloper, Rds. 200, and ten oxen at Rds. 8 a piece, Rds. 80. For a common ox-waggon he needs Rds. 173 for the waggon; Rds. 80 for 10 oxen; Rds. 400 for a first-rate slave as driver and Rds. 200 for an imported slave to lead the oxen - a total, Rds. 853.

After 5 years' use, a plough is worn out. The share must be re-sharpened every 3 or 4 days at a cost of Rds. 2:2 sch. should the land be at all stony; sometimes one share lasts long enough for sowing merely a single muid of seed. Sometimes 4 to 6 are broken into pieces in the course of a single year. Grain sacks cost Rds. 11:2 sch. for 10 and are worn out in 2 or 3 years. A new pick costs Rds. 1:4 sch. and has to be sharpened at 6 sch. a time. To obtain a good yield the land is ploughed and harrowed twice, viz. it lies fallow, with a harrowing, one year, while next year it is ploughed, sown and then harrowed. Usually a bushel of seed is sown for each ‘schoft’ which is early morning to midday, or midday to evening. I have seen on the farm of H. Cloete (one of the most experienced farmers) that to sow 3 muids of wheat in 4 morgen of loose, sandy soil, a whole day, that is 2 ‘schofts’, was worked with six 10 ox-ploughs, each with a voorloper, teamster and ploughman; a harrow drawn by 4 horses, with a voorloper and driver; and also a sower who sowed twice, first before ploughing, and then in the furrows after ploughing, after which the land was harrowed. This method is chosen as the wheat then stands up more regularly. Therefore 6 ploughs, 60 oxen, 4 horses and 21 slaves were employed.

A yield of 10 for 1 is reckoned a reasonably good harvest. However, the working and manuring of the land is generally done in a slovenly fashion and yields of much more than 20 for 1 are known. In fact the barley - which is usually well-manured - gives incredible yields. Cloete has assured me that he has harvested 90 muid from one muid. A reaper at his best cannot reap more than 1 bushel per day. For this one has to hire slaves at 4 sch. per day, since the wheat often ripens all at once and it will be

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scattered by the strong winds if not harvested with speed. To thresh 20, 25 or 30 muid of corn requires a full day's work from 24 to 30 horses and 6 to 8 slaves of whom each must have a sack, a pitchfork and a rake. 6 corn shovels are needed - the Company sells them for 11 sch. each - and all this equipment must be renewed every three years. A corn sieve costing a whole Rds. 30 is also needed, but this can sieve for a whole lifetime.

A farm which includes enough good land to yield 300 to 400 muid of corn per year, and has the necessary buildings and outbuildings, costs 8,000 to 10,000 Cape guilders. If cash is not available, interest will be demanded at 6 per cent p.a. New farms with land suitable for grain-farming are quite unobtainable. A further difficulty is that, owing to the high cost of building materials, most farmers have inadequate corn-barns to house the harvests of the good years. They are therefore forced to cart their corn off for sale directly from the threshing-floor, which makes for low returns. In addition, even though surrounded by a wide stretch of veld, most farms are ill-provided with good pastures for the large numbers of oxen and horses which are needed on account of lack of knowledge, and consequent poor farming methods. Unimproved veld, without any management, cannot sustain so many livestock throughout a summer lasting 8 months, during which it seldom rains. Grass is soon replaced with bushes and other weeds, which make such unhealthy browing for the oxen that, on average, the working life of an ox is barely 4 years.

One must therefore, whenever they can be spared, send one's livestock for grazing to some more remote farm. For each such farm one pays the Company Rds. 24 p.a. as ‘recognition-money’. This practice means less manure is available for the land that is used for corn or fallow. Moreover, it leads to a wider dispersion of farms, so that many corn-farmers live 2 or 3 ‘schofts’ or more from Cape Town and need 4 to 6 days for the return journey. (Each ‘schoft’ with the waggon is reckoned as travelling throughout the night but not continuing the journey during the day). Not more than 10 muid can be loaded into a waggon.

White wines - especially vins ordinaires - can drop as low as Rds. 10 to 12 per leaguer when the grape crop is plentiful. Otherwise they run from Rds. 15 to 30, which is also the usual price of red wines; but less red wine is produced. In 1777 the Company exported in the Katwyk an Ryn -

White steen wines invoiced at up to f48 per leaguer
Red steen wines invoiced from f88 to f176
Pontac	up to f176
Madeira	up to f66
Muscadel	up to f88

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Winegrowers in Drakenstein tell me they obtain Rds. 25 or 26 for their Madeira, made from the red ‘green grape’. The general standard of the wines could be greatly improved, for I have drunk some white wine which could be taken for the best French wine, and I have been told of red wines with the same flavour and aroma as those of Bordeaux. ‘Vatgeld’ of Rds. 3 must be paid on each leaguer. Fustage, like other wooden articles, is extremely dear, and so is transport, for not more than one leaguer can be carried in a waggon. Although few slaves are kept on wine-farms the costs of production are so high that most of the Drakenstein farmers, as they have no corn-lands, must go in for fruit-growing and fruit-drying for export to the East Indies, and so earn a livelihood. In French Hoek, which is a basin between the mountains where the last of the French Refugees to come to the Cape settled, it is a very meagre livelihood, since most of them have to buy their breadcorn.

Brandy is sold here at Rds. 30 to 100 per leaguer, depending upon its strength and on the size of the wine harvest.

Wheat and wine are cultivated between Cape Town and Steenberg and, across False Bay, along the Hottentots Holland mountains and those of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, to Roodezand and the mountains of the Olifant's River, and thence along the Piketbergen to the sea. Small amounts are grown in the Land van Waveren (Wellington) and along the Breede River. In both the Warm and the Cold Bokkeveld peas and beans are the main crop. In this whole large area, big enough for a Kingdom, the farms in some places are close together, but for the most part they are at a distance of an hour or two. Although there are many fertile and level stretches, the yield is low considering the extent, because of lack of water. The uncertainty as to what their produce will fetch, the high price of slaves and farming requisites and high transport costs all discourage many from taking land into cultivation. I am assured, nevertheless, that at least half as much corn again would be produced if a net price of Rds. 22 could always be obtained for 10 muids of wheat.

Because of scanty natural pasturage and poor veld management and similar shortcomings, agriculture can sustain comparatively few households within a large district. Yet their marriages are fruitful, hence their descendants from an early stage have had to cross the nearer mountains and become stockfarmers. They have chosen the Roggeveld for sheep; and for both cattle and sheep have spread some hundred miles along the south-east coast. This veld provided good grazing, so that cattle-raising has made large strides and cattle are to be counted by the hundred and sheep by the thousand on each farm. This meant a very scattered population. Yet, however rich in grass this veld was at first, without manage-

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ment it has gradually deteriorated and resort has had to be made to seasonal trekking of stock. The large arable farms of the Cape district have had to set up more than one farm in a locality, to graze the large number of oxen needed for ploughing and to maintain their income from slaughter-sheep. Smaller farmers have had to give way before them. Some of them long remain unmarried; many never marry and mingle with Hottentot women. Hence the Colony has remained thinly populated. This is illustrated by the Opgaaf for 1776.

As far as Swellendam and Mossel Bay and occasionally as far as the Zeekoei River, one finds quite respectable houses with a large room partitioned into 2 or 3, and with good doors and windows, though mostly without ceilings. For the rest, however, and especially those at a greater distance, they are only tumble-down barns, 40 feet by 14 or 15 feet, with clay walls four feet high, and a thatched roof. These are mostly undivided; the doors are reed mats; a square hole serves as a window. The fireplace is a hole in the floor, which is usually made of clay and cowdung. There is no chimney; merely a hole in the roof to let the smoke out. The beds are separated by a Hottentot reed mat. The furniture is in keeping. I have found up to three households - children included - living together in such a dwelling. The majority, by far, of the farmers from the Overberg come to Cape Town only once a year, because of the great distance - I have discovered that some are reckoned to live 40 ‘schoften’ or day's journey away - and because of the difficulty of getting through the kloofs between the mountains. To cross them they need at least 24 oxen, two teams of 10 changed at every halt and at least 4 spares to replace animals that are crippled or fall prey to lions. Two Hottentots are necessary as well as the farmer himself. The load usually consists of 2 vats of butter (1000 lb. in all) and 400 to 500 lbs. soap. The butter fetches only 3 stivers per lb. since they have to sell to speculators; for they cannot stay long, not only because they have a long return journey ahead of them, but because they cannot find grazing there for their oxen. They get 4 to 5 stivers a lb. for their soap. The proceeds of the whole waggon load are, perhaps, Rds. 114.

Out of this, the farmer has to pay the Company Rds. 48 as recognition money for 2 loan farms - for he cannot produce 1000 lbs. of butter for sale from only one. So Rds. 66 remains over from the proceeds of a waggon journey that he can make only once during the year!

If the Governor would accept oxen (at Rds. 8 a head) in lieu of recognition money, it would be a great favour. What the farmer obtains for his stock may be seen from an example. In the Camdebo a man of steady temperament declared to me that a few days before he had been refused

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the Rds. 5 which he had asked for a fat ox - which I estimate at 700 lbs. Yet one need not wonder over this; for, although beef in Cape Town costs 4 stivers per lb., such an animal must have lost much weight being driven 23 or 24 days' journey. Mutton was then fixed by the Company at 16 lb. for 1 schelling, which is about 3 duit (3/8 stiver) per lb. So a fat sheep there would not fetch more than 4 schellings.

Out of the proceeds of the butter, soap and livestock sales, the farmer must clothe himself and his family, in however threadbare a fashion. For the complete outfit of a farmer is a pair of leather breeches, blue shirt, blue striped waistcoat and a hat. The women are dressed just as simply. Both go barefoot. He must acquire for his housekeeping sugar, coffee, tea and everything besides milk, meat and bread. (Many indeed, are not self-sufficient in the last, but have to buy corn or barter cattle for it). Especially must he provide himself with such building materials as are necessary, which uses up most of what money is left.

So tenuous is the stock-farmer's connection with the Cape that he loses his grasp on civilisation. A herdsman's life leads to idleness; his work consists only of watching his cattle leave the kraals in the morning and return in the evening. If he goes hunting he usually takes a Hottentot with him to carry the carcase. Any cultivation of fruit or vegetables is women's work. Various young men, without means for settling down, have here or there a miserable hut where they live with a Hottentot woman.

From this I see no other consequence emerge than the bastardization of the nation, which could be as great a threat for the Colony as the Bushmen-Hottentots are at present. For, however, extensive the territory, it will soon become too small to provide enough room for such a herdsman's life. We already find disputes over land and in such disputes it is the relative strength of the two parties that decides the issue. I have found that many speak of the tedious delays in getting differences settled through Landdrost and Heemraden, and subsequently through the Council of Justice in Cape Town; and of procuring speedier redress through their own efforts. If the land proves insufficient for people who still retain some civilization, what will it be for those who mingle with Hottentots and Caffers?

To add to all these inconveniences for the Colony there is robbing and plundering by Bushmen-Hottentots who have risen all together against the colonists, apparently as a result of the bad treatment received from them in the past. Many colonists have fled from the interior into the districts near the coast, where, when I was in the Colony, they were beginning to get in the way of those already settled there. Must a commando of

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farmers be permanently in the field to protect their livestock?

The lands along the South East and the coast can be very fruitful since they are intersected by many rivers. The soil is a clay mixture and for 4, 5 and 6 hours inland from the sea, the land, though hilly, is not mountainous. Many of these rivers - such as the Sundays, Gamtoos, Gouritz and Breede Rivers - which flow into the sea, are broad enough to be navigable by flat-bottomed craft, if not in the driest of summers, at least in winter, and in spring and autumn. I myself had to cross the Breede River by boat at a place at least 25 hours from the mouth; and 8 hours from its mouth, at the junction with the Riviersondereinde, a pont is maintained at the cost of the Swellendam district, providing regular service. Above Mossel Bay, where the mountains turn towards the coast, is an extensive and heavily-wooded forest - at least 30 hours long and in many places 4 or 5 hours broad, running right down to the sea. I measured one of the trees. At breast height it was 16 ft. 9 inches in circumference. It was tall and straight; there were others similar. Oaks and pines, which have been introduced there, grow much more rapidly than in the Netherlands if a sheltered place, not too dry, is chosen. There are plenty of suitable places but there is little knowledge of tree planting, and little interest in it.

The best pasturage for horned cattle is the Camdebo and eastwards to the Fish River. The Sneeuwbergen have short grass, which suits sheep. East of the Sundays River the land was in its natural state and the grass was knee-high. From Piketberg northwards, and also north-eastward towards the interior, the lands, with the exception of the Roggeveld, are for the most part sandy and dry Karroo veld, containing dunes, and virtually nothing grows for lack of water. At its best there are occasional pieces of grazing near a little stream, but nearly all the farms have been abandoned.

Means of redress:

Although the Colony is at present declining and possibly costs the Company 100,000 guilders per annum, this could be much improved, so as to provide a better livelihood for thousands of colonists and, even if no direct gain to the Company resulted, at least the costs of the settlement would be much reduced.

Two matters of the utmost importance for achieving this are: 1. An outlet for their produce and 2. a means of procuring the requisites for agriculture much more cheaply than at present. For even if the sale of their produce were thrown completely open and the greatest improvements in agriculture were introduced, the high prices of the requisites would still make the production of such bulky products so costly that,

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on top of the freight charges for such long voyages, they could not earn an adequate profit. Before coming to any decision on freedom of export of grains, one would have to be assured that there are good harbours along the south-east coast; for it is not feasible to transport such heavy freights by road. Undoubtedly there are such harbours, since Mossel Bay (already known) and Plettenberg's Bay (recently discovered) are both good; and the difficulty that shipping in these bays, during the south-east winds, might have to lie exposed on a lee shore, is lessened by the fact that the South-Easters diminish in intensity as one proceeds eastwards. In fact I am assured by some knowledgeable local inhabitants that the prevailing winds there blow from the south-west in summer and the north-west in winter, both being off-shore.

A first consideration is whether the colonists ought not to be permitted freedom of sailing along the east coast of Africa and thence to the East Indies, excepting places where it could not be permitted on account of the Company's trade in certain wares, or where treaties with foreign powers would not allow it. This ought markedly to enlarge the outlets, particularly for wines. More East Indian wares might well be imported in return, for consumption in the Colony; but, should there be strict surveillance to ensure that the East Indian goods were not imported direct, I cannot see that the Company would suffer any disadvantage. If the Company was the only trader with the East Indies, an increased import of these goods might have been harmful; but now that so many other countries are involved in the trade it can matter very little whether people at the Cape are able to sell such goods to foreigners. The foreigners' trade balance will suffer to the advantage of a colony belonging to the Company, and so indirectly to the Company's own advantage. Yet this trade with foreigners would not be very great; their own exclusive companies would see to that. The revenues of the local Government would increase through a moderate tax - even were it only through an increased yield from the existing 10% duty.

It should also be asked whether, in time, trading with the interior of Africa could not be opened up and a large amount of wine and brandy disposed of through such trade. It is universally reckoned that the Hottentots are so wedded to their way of life that they would rather dress in a sheepskin, consume their meat raw, and lie down in the open air than wear our clothes, eat our bread and cooked meat, and sleep in our homes. But, amongst all the tribes of Hottentots and Caffers that I have seen, I have found just the opposite. I could give no more highly valued present to the Hottentots who accompanied me on my journey than stockings, breeches, a jacket and a hat. They ate willingly bread and roast meat and

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drank a glass of wine, or more especially brandy, with pleasure. All the farmers of the Overberg inland from Mossel Bay employ virtually none but Hottentots men and women; and some bastard Caffers. All these enjoy bread and meat which has been prepared; they would rather sleep under a roof than in their own huts; the fact that they run naked is due more to the poverty and barbarity of the farmers than to their own choice. Amongst some of our more prosperous farmers I have seen them dressed in our clothing. It has been borne in on me that the very Caffers are very keen on finery, for anything that will serve for adornment was to their liking. They also enjoyed our bread and grilled meat. Their huts are also as close together as our houses.

I therefore am sure that these savage peoples are quite capable of civilization; as they gradually become more civilized so will they be subject to more wants. On their own they will look for something to give in exchange, either in their own districts or among peoples further away, which I guess can be had in plenty from the interior disticts. For example, what aromatic gums do the English not draw from the River Gambia? How many sorts of silk-kapok are not being discovered daily in the Cape interior? Elephant ivory will become progressively scarcer as the population of the Colony increases, since the animals will withdraw further in, so that, in time, they will have to be obtained from the Hottentots. Will not such contact with the tribes of the interior evoke a big demand for East Indian goods, and so relieve the difficulty that too many of these goods would be imported here? A greater sale for some products might even now be developed in the Colony itself. The western districts are well suited for wines, yet the Overberg districts are not. At any rate the rather inferior wine which I have sampled was sour and tart. While the Cape district is virtually destitute of wood, in the Overberg there are immense forests which could be exploited over a very long period if properly handled. Everyone fells the best tree he can find, damaging 10 to 12 trees close to it, while still more are damaged in dragging it out. Meanwhile the crooked trees are allowed to stand and as their branches spread the young growth underneath is stunted, unable to thrust through the heavy cover. In this way the forests near Stellenbosch, along the Riviersondereinde and the Grootvadersbosch have been ruined. I have wandered for hours through the Grootvadersbosch without finding a tree that was fit for cutting down.

Once arable farming in the Overberg has been stimulated through an enlargement of the market the farmers will be able to refresh themselves with a drink of wine and brandy, while now they have to be content with tea and coffee or merely a draught of clean water. And if every year some

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portions of the Outeniqua forest were sold for the Colony's benefit, and cleared, the new growth could regenerate and the forests could be maintained. Ample and regular employment could be provided for numbers of colonists, were knowledgeable persons to set up sawmills at little expense and transport their timber at small cost to the newly-discovered Plettenberg's Bay or Mossel Bay. The ships carrying the timber to Cape Town to supply those dwelling in the neighbourhood with so necessary a commodity could return laden with wine. This interchange of colonial produce would also directly benefit the Company through the payment of tithes and vatgeld; it would maintain the continued production of timber from a well-maintained forest resource, which the colonists could make use of over and over again. The district of Camdebo further inland would also benefit because the route to the sea from there is barely 4 or 5 days' journey over a fairly smooth road.

I have said nothing as yet about direct exchange of goods, since it is surrounded by difficulties. Nevertheless, it must be allowed to some extent, as otherwise the Colony can hardly obtain supplies of agricultural requisites at a moderate price, the need for which is evident. To call upon the Company to supply goods, which it exports to the Cape, at lower prices, would render this trade still more unprofitable. Already it is likely that if an accurate reckoning is made of the cost to the Company of the salaries of all the employees needed for running its warehouses, and of constructing and maintaining the warehouses themselves, balanced against the profits earned on the goods, the balance will not be favourable. Moreover the costs are likely to grow appreciably in a short while, since the Castle is getting distinctly old. For this reason building materials could hardly be imported by the Company and sold at lower prices.

One must, therefore, consider whether the colonists should not be allowed to import their own requirements, in Company's ships, on payment of a ‘recognitie’ and freight charges. I think this would suit them, as they would be able to specify their exact individual requirements. Undoubtedly they would prefer to deal with their own correspondents rather than, as now, have to take what the Company offers. One example is timber. For them the most useful sizes of beam are those 6 × 8 and 7 × 9 inches thick, and 21, 22 or 23 feet long. They prefer planks of 1¼ inches thick and 21 feet long. These sizes best suit the construction of their wine-cellars which must be 20 ft. wide, to accommodate 2 rows of vats with a passage-way between. I am informed, however, that it is sometimes impossible to obtain these sizes, particularly in the case of shipments from Zeeland.

The Company would probably lose by private shipments, since the costs

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of outfitting and insurance of its ship would exceed the returns from licence and freight charges. To compensate for this the colonists who hope to profit from the shipment made for their account, could be forced to supply a return freight of such commodities as could be sold in the Netherlands at a profit. The Company could either take over the return shipment for its own account, or leave it to the colonists under such conditions as were deemed necessary to guard against unlawful trading. These might well include the Company's taking over the unloading, unpacking and sale.

The ships for this trade could be fitted out less expensively than at present. Such ships as carry on the Surinam trade would be adequate. Ships leaving the Netherlands to arrive in the Cape summer, and return, would not have to cope with any significant storms. Moreover, the Company will almost certainly be forced to send out considerable numbers of troops to East Indian posessions every year, and the ships would be serviceable for this purpose. For although they would only sail as far as the Cape, the Company might well decide that the most convenient and least costly arrangement might be to hold a certain number of troops at the Cape in readiness to be sent on further as soon as they were needed. If some unforeseen attack occurred, the increase in the number of ships engaged in the trade would facilitate the rapid transport of the necessary forces. It ought also to be possible to come to an arrangement for the Company to keep these men at the Cape on half pay, allowing them as a concession to hire themselves to the farmers, undertaking military training once a week.

A number of new branches of production should be introduced, e.g.

1.	Gin distilling. The juniper thrives luxuriantly and prospective sales in the interior are very large.
2.	Growing fine wool through the introduction of Spanish and Barbary sheep. The sheep can lie out of doors at night, due to the climate, and several districts, e.g. the Roggeveld and ‘on the Sneeuwbergen,’ are renowned for their excellent pasturage for sheep without bushes likely to harm the quality of the wool. That no wool is shorn as yet is due to the indiscriminate herding together of goats and sheep, so that the fleeces become kempy. But I have some stockings of Cape wool, which are as fine as serge.
3.	The cotton plant grows luxuriantly around Smyrna although its degree of northern latitude is higher than the Cape's of southern latitude. Why should it not do so there? When it is in flower, in midsummer, it will not suffer from heavy rain, particularly in the Overberg.
4.	The climate is suitable for growing silkworms, and the mulberries

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	would have 8 months of growing time each year. It is true that earlier attempts to introduce them have gone awry; but the wrong place was chosen, viz. around Table Bay where the South East winds blow so strongly. Places along the south-east coast are not subject to these winds; and silk can bear heavy freight charges.
5.	Is there any land better adapted for beekeeping? Flowers are open throughout the year and the climate is such that the bees can work continuously. In our climate where they must be protected from the cold for half the year, they are still very profitable. How much more can be expected of them there?

However, if the opening of an outlet for produce, the provision of an opportunity to obtain building materilas at reasonable prices, and the introduction of new products are to bring about good effects, farming methods must be improved. Experts will be needed both for that purpose and for the development of new products. If the improvement of agriculture is left to mere verbal instruction, the outcome will be the same as here: ‘My father and grandfather have done things in that way; why should I do them differently?’

What is needed in the first instance is a knowledgeable and disinterested man who, not for power or glory but out of zeal to enhance the welfare of so many fellow-men, takes over, under the Governor, the general supervision of internal arrangements. It is impossible for the Governor to undertake everything personally. Next, some young well-trained agriculturalists from different parts of the Netherlands, but particularly Zeeland and Groningen, should be sent there and allocated to different districts according to whether they were accustomed to clay or sandy soils. These young farmers should demonstrate to the Afrikaner countryfolk, by telling practical examples, how to fashion their farming methods after our own, which I believe to be the best. Experts should also be settled there for the introduction of new crops. If the supervisor of the internal economy now studies ways of overcoming those difficulties in the way of farming which are peculiar to the Cape - such as overcoming the shortage of natural grazing in the summer by introducing more mules, bred from asses brought from St. Jago, which increase quickly in numbers and are very strong animals, so that the large number of oxen at present required on a farm, could be reduced - and the new farmer-demonstrators remain active long enough, I have no doubt that the Kaapenaars will be persuaded, with little trouble, that such extensive tracts of land as they now occupy are not essential to a well-run farm.

If the supervisor is able to gain the trust of the inhabitants, he could

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then easily induce them to be satisfied with less land. The colony will then become more closely settled. On this footing no shortage of good arable land need be expected.

As a result of opening up navigation along the east coast of Africa and to the East Indies, a large number of slaves will undoubtedly be imported. While there is a great shortage at present and the prosperity of the Colony should increase as a result of the first importation, I believe that, in the long run, it would be more profitable if slavery could gradually be abolished and farming be conducted entirely on the pattern of the Netherlands. This would be so as regards both farming itself and the Colony's defence. For where slave-owning is easy, farmers' children grow up as lordlings and learn little about agriculture. Furthermore, the work that is done by a Black is not as well done as a White could do it. The population would prove adequate to supply hands for agriculture, and set to work many who otherwise would prove do-nothings. If this aim is kept in mind from the start, it should prove easy to achieve in the Overberg districts, which are not yet greatly populated, and where people own few slaves. The superiority of this method of farming over farming with slaves should lead to the example rapidly being followed.

The Company could rely more on European inhabitants than black slaves for defence of the Colony. Loyal subjects are born of satisfactory living conditions and a mild administration. I fear that the opposite might be experienced in case of enemy attack. I have heard some say, ‘What is it to me, who is the Sovereign? we could not be worse off than we are.’

A consequence of permission to import what one needs on one's own account, and of laying open trade with the Indies, would be that a number of officials become superfluous - e.g. provisions-storekeeper, cellarmaster, warehouse-master. Even if the Company retained for itself the shipment of products to Europe, it would not require warehouses for storing them before loading. The increase in trade will induce the inhabitants to build their own, from which the goods can be shipped direct. In consequence, responsibility for any shortcomings could be ascertained and remedied, since no one could simply lay the blame on the Company's warehouses. Even the post of Head Administrator might fall away. This would all mean less expense for the Company. Yet it would certainly be a hardship for those who now fill the posts to be deprived of them, from which they do very well. They might be compensated by forming them into an Equipment Commission, to supervise the fitting out, victualling and despatch of the Company's ships, in conjunction with the Superintendent of Shipping, Naval Stores, Provisioning and Repairs (the ‘Equipagie-

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meester’) and further, with the Head of the Military, to see to the maintenance of the soldiers. Much will be saved by the reduction in numbers of the lower ranks employed by the Company, who could be more useful in the new colony to be set up in the Overberg; and by savings in the upkeep of warehouses.

In general, the expenses of the local Government will be greatly reduced by the abolition of the Slave Lodge, the Company's stable and all the ‘buitenposten’ which are maintained at a number of places in the country districts. These were essential when the Colony was first settled since the colonists were unable to maintain supplies to Cape Town of all that was needed for the maintenance of the Company's servants and the provisioning of its ships. But now no advantage is derived from them save by the ‘Baases’ in charge of them; whilst already all requirements are transported to town much better by free burghers, and can be prepared by means of hired slaves. Two instances of this come to mind. I had hardly been three days at the Cape when I saw one of the Company's long waggons, like a brewer's dray, used to transport two chests, 5 ft. long, from the beach to the warehouse, with 50 slaves, both male and female, from the Lodge. Yet at the same time I saw two similar chests carried quite as far by only 8 hired labourers. I have often seen a herd of trek-oxen from the Barn (Groote Schuur) grazing under the supervision of two Europeans, drawing soldier's or sailor's pay, while a single Black slave or Hottentot would have served just as well.

Further investigations would still more clearly disclose that not all these posts need to be continued. If, now, the Colony prospered and agriculture was re-animated, the Company would be able to draw a considerable sum from the sale of all these lands - which are mostly in the best districts - and this could be used for strengthening and protecting the harbours.

The colonists ought also to be allowed a share in the Government. If reassured, in that way, of the maintenance of their privileges, they would be rendered more loyal to their Fatherland and to the authorities. If Government is placed entirely in the hands of Company's servants, too sharp a distinction between the two groups arises, which easily leads to oppression and to discontent. The Governor, Fiscal and Head of the Armed Forces ought to watch over both Company's affairs and the economic condition of the Colony in conjunction with Councillors chosen every 4 to 6 years, according to district, from among the colonists. If there were fears that the Governor's influence over the Councillors would be too powerful, their election could be placed in the hands of the burghers, subject to the Governor's approval. Although this would not en-

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sure that the Governor's influence ceased to be a powerful factor, it would at least be less than at present; since now all the Councillors apart from the Independent Fiscal are dependent on him, in their posts.

Concerning the collection of Company's and local administrative imposts on citizens much enmity might be avoided were they imposed through the Landdrost and the whole body of Heemraden, in consultation with some of the more prominent inhabitants, especially convoked for the purpose or chosen as representatives by the colonists themselves. Their reports should be signed by all the Heemraden and representatives of the burghers present and should be transmitted for approval to the Council of Policy.