XLIV. Swellengrebel to H. Cloete.
Schoonoort, 2.6.1792
Hon. Sir and very good friend,
Although some vessels have arrived, I have, up till now, not received any news from you or from any of yours, except a letter from your son Lourensz, who told me about the death of his youngest daughter. I am sure that the pressure of work in connection with the wheat- and grape-harvest is keeping you fully occupied, but I am hoping to get a double pile of letters, when all this is over.
This letter is brought to you by Hendrik Marsfeld, one of the Brethern of the Hernhutter community, who with two companions, is about to undertake the great work of converting the Hottentots and Caffers to Christianity. This has the consent of the V.O.C.
These three missionaries called on me for advice before they left. My advice was that they should first make the acquaintance of some farmer living in the interior. One of these might be prepared to take them in, if, in return, they would teach his children to read and write. There they could get to know the Hottentots and learn their language, which I understand is essential.
The missionaries, however, thought that they must follow the example of their compatriots in America, settle amongst the Hottentots and Kaffers, build themselves a house and grow their own food. This seemed to me impossible. From my experience of the districts in the interior they will have great difficulty in finding the requisites for a sufficiently advanced agriculture. If they want to start the work all of a sudden like this, on their own, they will have to be content to live like the Hottentots.
These Hernhutters are known for their patience, which will stand them in good stead, as how one makes men into Christians, before they have yet been formed into men, I do not understand. Their religious services are even simpler than ours, and so cannot readily appeal to the senses. But even if they can do little good amongst the Hottentots and Caffers, they should instil into our Christians better concepts of real Christian devotion.
They asked me for a letter of introduction, which I addressed to you, because of your humanity; and because you know the farmers across the mountains, and so will be best able to instruct them how they must tackle their task.
The bearer of this letter seemed to me to be the most suitable of the three for the task. The others did not have much to say, perhaps because they could not speak Netherlands well enough to converse in it. Hendrik Marsveld promised to collect the seeds of all plants he found in the
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