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Introduction. Hendrik Witbooi.
This introduction was written by Mr. Gustav Voigts, one of the members of the S.W.A. Scientific Society. He is one of the oldest and most respected inhabitants of South-West Africa. He knew Hendrik Witbooi personally and in the following pages he speaks from his experiences as a merchant, farmer and soldier of the prominent part that this little Hottentot captain played in his history of South-West Africa.
(Translated from the German.)
In the year 1891 I came from Chile to the Transvaal to join my brother Albert. On arriving at Schweizer Reinecke, I found him away from home, he having left a short time before with two other Germans by ox-wagon for Damaraland in order to make preparations for the establishment of commercial relations between that country and the Transvaal. After a year the expedition returned. In spite of difficulties and losses at the hands of turbulent Hottentots they had nevertheless arrived at a satisfactory result. It was decided to establish a business, with the help of our principal, Mr. Wecke, in Okahandja, the residence of the Paramount Chief of the Hereros. The goods would be bartered for Herero cattle, which would then be driven overland to the Transvaal to be sold in Johannesburg. Besides ourselves Messrs. Hermann Brandt and Bernhardt Mahler took part in the trek. They had already accompanied the first trek and later purchased Enkelkameelboom, the present Mariental, from Witbooi.
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In July, 1892, we left the Transvaal with two well-spanned and well-equipped ox-wagons and trekked via Taungs and Kuruman through the Kalahari which we crossed without loss on the waterless stretch of 240 kilometres from Koes along the Molopo to Mier.
At Karaam we came upon a ruined and burnt-out Hottentot village. Brandt, an experienced German-South African, explained that this was one of the many instances of Hendrik Witbooi's cruelty.
Evening after evening our conversation round the camp-fire turned to Hendrik. Brandt could narrate endless anecdotes about this remarkable Captain of the Witboois. Hendrik had subjected almost the whole of Namaqualand; tribes which refused to submit to him were exterminated. Towards the whites he was just and magnanimous, knowing well that without them he could obtain no weapons and ammunition.
On the last stage of the trek, in the neighbourhood of Karaam, ten delegates met us with a letter from Hendrik Witbooi requesting that the convoy should go to Witbooi's village, as he wished to purchase all the merchandise. My brother and Brandt knew well that, if they obeyed, Hendrik would take all our goods with the promise to pay for them with oxen after his next excursion to Damaraland. They therefore refused with the excuse that they had no authority to do so as they had strict injunctions from Mr. Wecke to proceed to Okahandja. The ten Witboois remained a few days, examined the wagons, particularly in search of weapons, ammunition and brandy, and on being unable to find any, drank up our whole stock of Dutch medicines indiscriminately for the sake of their spitituous contents, an act which produced the most
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remarkable effects. After they had recovered they purloined a number of articles they required and departed without paying.
From Karaam we trekked to Enkelkameelboom. One evening we saw a camp-fire burning in the neighbourhood. It occasioned us some uneasiness, as it might belong to some of Simon Cooper's people from Gochas, who were fond of robbing whites. To our relief, however, Abel Isaak, one of Hendrik Witbooi's headmen, soon appeared and asked who we were and whither we were going. He did not molest us in the least, drank a mug of coffee and returned to his fire.
Next morning we continued our journey over Kub and Rehoboth to Windhoek, which at that time consisted only of the fort and three houses. The Kaiserstreet of to-day was then a mere spoor for ox-wagons; the hot springs ran freely over it as they had done for centuries. The present Zoo was a marshy thicket of reeds and witdoorntrees.
In the neighbourhood of Okahandja we met the first Hereros. Without greeting, everyone of them, man, woman or child, asked: ‘Otjikorta tji ri pi?’ that is to say: ‘The base short one! Where is he?’ Hendrik Witbooi was generally called ‘The Short One.’ The use of the prefix ‘Tji,’ which as a rule is used to indicate inanimate objects, signified contempt.
Witbooi was the terror of Hereroland, particularly along the Southern border which passed through Otjimbingwe, Barmen, Okahandja and along the White Nossob to Otjihaenene. Along this Southern line the Hereros were packed in dense masses with their large herds of cattle. The reason was that Witbooi was wont to appear unexpectedly from the South with his
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mounted warriors, fall upon the cattleposts of the Hereros, shoot down the few herdsmen and drive off the cattle. In order, therefore, to have as many fighting men as possible on the spot when such unexpected attacks took place, the Hereros were obliged to live together in dense masses on this Southern boundary. This necessitated keeping many cows, for milk was the staple diet of the Hereros.
When our firm commenced business in Okahandja in 1892, there was an astonishing scarcity of even the most primitive necessities such as spades, buckets, cooking-pots, etc. The first goods were literally snatched out of our hands by the Hereros. Within a few weeks we had 500 oxen together, with which my brother Albert immediately departed for the Transvaal. Samuel Maharero gave him a letter addressed to Witbooi, asking the latter to vouchsafe his white traders safe escort through Namaland, according to the conditions of the recently concluded peace. The request was complied with. A copy of this letter is to be found in Witbooi's diary.
Witbooi still owed us about £40 from the first trek, and Hermann Brandt several times requested him to pay, but without success. Recourse to legal proceedings was out of the question, but Brandt knew how he could get round Hendrik. He simply wrote to him that it would never do for him, as the Great Chief of Namaland, not to pay his debts. If he really refused, then he (Brandt) would publish the fact in the Cape Town newspapers, which would mean the end of all his fame. This had its effect and payment followed immediately.
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At the beginning of 1893 we again had 700 oxen in our possession. Samuel Maharero informed me that he could only give us pasture for these in the mountains of Otjihavera to the South of Okahandja. Witbooi would not steal the cattle of a white man, and we would further be able to give the Hereros immediate warning if Hendrik invaded the country on his raids from the South. That was not very friendly, but at any rate reasonable.
When Brandt left with our 700 oxen for the Transvaal, we received in Windhoek the ominous tidings that Governor von Francois had driven Witbooi out of Hoornkrans - that meant war. Instead of trekking further southwards, we had to remain with our oxen on the Schaf River and wait.
The war against Witbooi was endlessly prolonged. No purchasers for our cattle could be found in the country. The accounts for the large consignments of goods were a year old and had to be paid. I was alone in Okahandja and at my wits' end. At last I formed a desperate decision. I wrote through Samuel Maharero to Witbooi, reminding him that according to the conditions of peace it was his duty to grant protection to Samuel's traders through Namaland, that I was in difficulties and had to send 500 oxen urgently to the Transvaal, and that I required his protection for this purpose. Witbooi replied that he was involved in a strenuous war and could not help me. If, however, the matter was very urgent, I could approach him again. When I then wrote to him that it was extremely urgent, he informed me that I might send my people with the cattle. Brandt took 500 oxen and trekked to the South. As a present for Witbooi I gave him 7
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slaughter-oxen, 50 lbs. of coffee, 100 lbs. of sugar and 20 lbs. of tobacco. Brandt went unarmed. One evening at dusk when he had outspanned at Asawab, which is to the South of Rehoboth, he perceived that he was surrounded by Witbooi horsemen. Brandt greeted them with the words: ‘Die koffie is klaar. Kom sit maar.’
The Hottentots brought a letter from Witbooi to the effect that I should lend him 50 slaughter-oxen as the stress of war was too great. As soon as God showed him mercy again and gave him booty, he would return them. Brandt informed them that he possessed no authority over the oxen, but that Voigts had sent 7 slaughter-oxen, coffee, sugar and tobacco as a present for the captain. With this they declared themselves satisfied and placed two Witboois, with the typical pieces of white cloth tied in a knot over the hat, on the wagon-chest. This proved sufficient protection throughout Namaland. Witbooi knew well that we were Germans, with whom he was at war, and that he could have taken the 500 oxen without a shot, but we also knew that Hendrik would keep his word whatever happened and we were not disappointed.
While I was waiting I sat in Okahandja without merchandise and without work. Practically every day I went to old Riarua, the Herero headman, who had been one of the military leaders of the Hereros against the Witboois in the days of old Kamaharero. I nearly always found him sitting at his holy fire, the Okuruuo, a man-high, always smouldering heap of ashes. Riarua was particularly fond of describing his campaigns against Witbooi at Hoornkrans.
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Riarua said: ‘When I marched out with my warriors to catch Witbooi in his rocky nest at Hoornkrans, I always took so scanty a supply of provisions with me that I barely had enough with me to last my men till Hoornkrans. My Hereros therefore knew that nothing else was left to them but to take oxen from Witbooi which they needed for food, or, as it was colloquially expressed, to “shoot them down” (“afskiet”). In besieging Hoornkrans I saw how courageous the Witboois were, but far more dangerous for us was Witbooi's cunning. On several occasions I penetrated so far into his strongheld that Witbooi could no longer save himself, but every time he simply let free a herd of cattle, which were then pursued by my stupid Hereros, so that Witbooi got a chance to draw fresh breath.’
Riarua's last campaign against Witbooi had taken place about a year before my arrival in Okahandja. His son, the important and courageous Assa-Riarua, had led the attacking troop in the front rank and his head had been grazed by a Witbooi bullet. The bullet had torn open the skull for a distance of a fingerlength. Missionary Viehe treated the wound for the first few months; later he came under my care. The brain still lay open and one could actually see the pulse beating. During these surgical visits Assa used to tell me of Witbooi's last attack on Okahandja.
Witbooi was born at Pella, to the South of the Orange River and received a training as evangelist and native teacher. He trekked with his father, Moses Witbooi, Northwards and settled at Gibeon. Later on serious strife ensued between him and his father, for Hendrik exhibited at quite an early age a pronounced
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obstinacy and announced, moreover, that he had been called by God to do great deeds, to unite the Nama tribes under his command and to lead them into the promised land in the North. Much discussion has taken place over how Witbooi arrived at this idea of divine inspiration; whether he was really a religious fanatic like the fanatical Mahdi, or whether he used this inspiration as a cloak for his frightful wars. The idea of uniting the Nama tribes under his command brought indescribable misery, suffering, poverty and bloodshed over the whole of Namaland. All tribes that refused to submit to him were shot down, their villages plundered and burnt - a procedure, however, which often cost Witbooi severe losses. In the end it turned out that he was after all not powerful enough to achieve the subjection of all Namaland, in spite of the fact that he used to sign himself, ‘Koning van Groot Namakwaland.’
Witbooi's father, as well as the Rhenish Missionaries, approached Hendrik repeatedly and urged him earnestly to examine himself, to give up his deeds of violence and to return to God, for at present he was walking in the path of the Evil One. Witbooi paid no heed and only answered that he had been called by God to carry out a great mission.
Witbooi was a small, stunted, typical Hottentot with a grave expression of countenance. His colloquial name was ‘Kort’ - the Short one. I never heard him laugh: at the most I once observed a cunning smile on his face while he was joking at the expense of the Herero noblemen who were serving him as ‘bywoners’ and cattle herds. His right thumb had been shot off by the Hereros. When writing he held the pen between the index and middle-fingers. Every time that I saw
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Hendrik he was always neatly and cleanly dressed. He was very well grounded in the Bible and often defended his actions with verses from Holy Scripture. It has often been a subject of debate why Witbooi provided his soldiers with white rags round their hats, which were so easily recognisable in battle. According to information which I have gathered, the white hats of the Witboois were purposely intended to be visible at a distance in order to spread fear and terror before them, so that it would not be necessary to waste any ammunition. In bush-fighting the white hats further served the purpose of deceiving the enemy, for, as the Herero Kayata informed me, the Witboois used to hang their hats in a bush and hide themselves a couple of yards away.
As a result of Witbooi's continual campaigns the whole of Namaland, with the exception of those parts under the control of certain captains such as Simon Cooper and Willem Christiaan, was devastated and impoverished. When Witbooi found nothing more to rob in Namaland, he turned his campaigns against the Hereros. I have myself heard Witbooi say that he was a soldier and had therefore no time to rear cattle. That was a task for his cattle herds, the Hereros, who understood better how to work with cattle. A cattlerearing nation like the Hereros found themselves compelled by reason of their large herds and the necessity of obtaining sufficient pasturage for them, to scatter themselves over wide stretches of country. This, however, caused them to be easily vulnerable on all sides, for nobody knew beforehand on which side Witbooi would break through. Between Hoornkrans and the Southern Herero boundary (from the Swakop to the
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White Nossob) lay a huge uninhabited territory. Nobody knew whether Witbooi would attack at Otjimbingwe, Barmen or Otjihaenene. Witbooi used to spend weeks and months preparing for his raids. The horses were well attended to, sufficient ammunition collected, and 14 days before marching the men were separated from the women. On his raids into Hereroland speed was Witbooi's first commandment. He would fall upon the cattle-posts of the Hereros with his warriors in the morning twilight and drive off thousands of oxen before the Hereros had time to get a commando together. If any delay occurred, so that the Hereros were able to mobilise themselves, Witbooi regularly received his punishment.
At the end of the eighties Witbooi wrote to old Kamaharero in Okahandja that he (Witbooi) had come from the South with his people and had now to lead them further Northwards. The Hereros were requested to grant him free passage, which, however, the Hereros would not agree to, as they feared that Witbooi had hostile intentions. Seeing that he could not achieve his purpose with good words, Witbooi decided to make his way by force, and marched against Okahandja. He was, however, unable to defeat the Hereros and camped for a long time to the South of Okahandja without effecting anything worthy of mention. Whenever Assa came to speak of this siege of Okahandja by Witbooi, he always became very excited. He could not understand how Witbooi could manage to carry out such big schemes with his handful of soldiers. Equally inconceivable was his boundless influenoe over his followers. One morning in front of Osona Witbooi rose from his couch, called his warriors together and informed them that God had appeared to him during
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the night and had given him instructions that towards noon seven of his soldiers had to ride at a trot into Okahandja and shoot Samuel Maharero or bring him alive into his camp. Towards midday seven Witboois set out voluntarily and rode at a trot along the big road over Osona into Okahandja. Assa lived in the Southern or Christian quarter and told me that he could hardly believe his eyes when he saw seven Witbooi horsemen riding at a trot into Okahandja in broad daylight. He was so amazed that he did not know what to do, but neverthelss he sprang into his hut and brought out his Martini-Henri rifle. In the meantime the horse of one of the Hottentots had been shot, but the rider ran on after the others. Assa shot down two of the Hottentots: the remaining five succeeded in reaching Kamaharero's house, where they leisurely dismounted and inquired if Samuel was at home. Samuel was actually in the house with his cousin, the Herero Eduard, who hastily locked the door. At the same moment the shooting began. The five Hottentots ensconced themselves in a Bechuana house, built of clay with a roof of reeds, in front of Samuel's door. Samuel shot out of the window and the Hottentots tried to hit him, but only succeeded in wounding him in the middle finger. When in the afternoon still nothing decisive could be effected, the little Hottentot captain, Kol, who had previously been driven by Witbooi out of Namaland and had been living for years with the Hereros in Okahandja, climbed on to the straw roof of the Bechuana-house and set it on fire. But nevertheless the Hottentots still held out, two more fell and the surviving three escaped in the night and made their way on foot to Witbooi's camp South of Osona.
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[pagina xviii]
[p. xviii] | |
After this failure Witbooi retired to Hoornkrans. As soon as he had made good his losses, he set out once more with his fighting men against the Hereros, this time, however, Eastwards over Otjihaenene to Otjihangwe. He fared, however, even worse than before, for the Herero headmen, Kajata, Baratajo, Mambo and Kahimemua gave him serious opposition. Moreover, Assa succeeded in breaking through from the West, so that Witbooi suffered almost a crushing defeat. This time it was too much even for Hendrik and he begged for peace. Assa told me that at Otjihangwa and further to the South they had killed 150 Witboois and captured an equal number of rifles. A peace was actually brought about, which Witbooi subsequently, after he had recovered from his defeat, mocked at, and called a ‘blou vrede,’ that is to say, a false peace which meant nothing.
A few years later Witbooi again became restless, and as I have already stated, he was surrounded and brought under fire by Governor von Francois at Hoornkrans in the beginning of 1893. The whole village fell into von Francois' hands, but unfortunately Witbooi escaped with the majority of his followers. A few days later Witbooi's lieutenant, Samuel Isaak, appeared suddenly one night with a few Witboois in Okahandja and tried to induce Samuel to join in a revolt against the Germans. Samuel, however, remained loyal and let Witbooi know that he could not break his alliance with the Germans. When I spoke to Samuel about this the next day, he said that it would be absolute folly for him to turn against the Germans, for the Witboois were possessed of the devil.
Witbooi was therefore unable to find allies and was moreover short of ammunition. Accompanied by some
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of his chief men he paid a personal visit to Walvis Bay in order to obtain ammunition in British territory. At that time the merchant Joseph Sichel of Walvis Bay had the transport contract for all goods which arrived for the German Government and the German traders. Mr. Sichel told me later that Witbooi during this visit once stood in deep thought among all the chests and crates and gazed at them silently and inquisitively. On Sichel's question as to what he was thinking, Witbooi, who looked upon all the goods as being Sichel's property, answered him that when one was as rich as he was, it must surely be no easy matter to bid farewell to this world. He, Witbooi, would find it much easier, as he possessed nothing.
After Witbooi had been finally subdued by Major Leutwein and had peaceably settled down with Captain von Burgsdorf at Gibeon, all Hereroland started to breathe again. The stereotyped ‘Otjikorta tji ri pi?’ was heard no more from the Hereros. Instead, they held dances right through the night. The ‘Omuhiva’ was performed with so much gusto that the soil of all Okahandja vibrated. When I drew the Herero headmen's attention to the advantages which had accrued to them through the German soldiers, they frankly acknowledged that they owed the Germans eternal gratitude for having freed them from the human scourge, Witbooi. But now the Germans would also have to give them more pastureland, for since Witbooi could no longer rob them, they required more grazing ground to the South.
Witbooi himself led under the control of Captain von Burgsdorf a care-free, easy life in Gibeon. On visiting the village on one occasion, I saw the old captain
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driving through Gibeon in a fine carriage of Cape Town manufacture drawn by four dapple greys. Provisions and coffee, the national beverage of the Hottentots, he now had in plenty and he no longer found it necessary to drink the less palatable brew made from the roasted roots of the witgat-tree.
In 1896, when the Hereros, Nikodemus and Kahimemua, together with the Kauas Hottentots, rose against the Germans and Samuel Maharero, Witbooi also came with Hauptmann von Burgsdorf and over 100 Witboois to Major Leutwein in Gobabis. In this case Witbooi may perhaps have been influenced by a certain amount of pleasure at his rival's discomfiture, for although it was Assa-Riarua with his Okahandja warriors who kept Witbooi continually in check Witbooi always entertained towards Nikodemus the greatest respect. Witbooi once said to me in the course of a conversation: ‘Nikodemus is 'n bul.’ Nikodemus was now thoroughly tired of the eternal robberies of Witbooi and marched with a strong force to Namaland to make a final end of Witbooi. The latter did not trust his position and left Gibeon and hid in the mountains. On taking Gibeon, all that Nikodemus could do was to burn the huts, and as he realised the futility of pursuing Witbooi, he had to return. In order, however, not to go home with empty hands, he robbed my good old friend, the Englishman, Robertson, of 300 oxen and my ‘bywoner,’ Gert Cloete, who by this time had been in my service for 30 years, of 70 head of cattle. He had once previously been robbed by the Hottentots.
When the Eastern Hereros and the Kauas Hottentots were defeated on the 6th of May, 1896, at Otjunda, Kahimemua the following week gave himself over with
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the rest of his forces at Omukuruwaru on the Epukiro. Major Leutwein had the prisoners brought before him and addressed them. During the speech Witbooi, who was present, noticed four of his own people among the robber-gang of the Kauas Hottentots. After the speech was concluded, Witbooi had his four men brought to him and without holding any trial had them thrashed behind the nearest bush to such an extent that they could scarcely crawl. On hearing the screams of the Hottentots, Major Leutwein inquired into the cause, and expressed his satisfaction when he learnt the circumstances.
We had scarcely commenced the return march to Okahandja, when Simon Cooper came to meet us on the upper Epukiro, accompanied by about 150 of his fighting men, all wearing yellow cloths on their hats. The fighting was now ended, and Witbooi expressed himself in most contemptuous words concerning Simon Cooper and his ‘Veldskoendraers,’ who had only shown themselves in the role of carrion-crows.
After a long string of evidence had been heard in the lengthy legal proceedings before the alert assessor, von Lindequist, who had also fought bravely at Otjunda, Nikodemus and Kahimemua were found guilty of having given orders for the German military patrols to be fired on. After the two rebels had been shot according to martial law, Major Leutwein proceeded over Windhoek to Seeis to supervise the division of the spoils. Witbooi and I rode together from Windhoek te Seeis. While we were passing over Gambaka, a waterhole on my present farm, Voigtland, Witbooi narrated to me much more about the battles which he had fought there and at Seeis. The rifle fire had been
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so hot that the bullets collided with one another in the air, a fact from which one of the waterholes received its name.
Here were also the graves of the fallen. Witbooi drew my attention to the fact that yellow and black lay here buried together. The graves of the Hereros were covered with dark shale-stones; those of the Witboois with bright pieces of quartz. At the division of the plunder at Seeis, Witbooi received from Major Leutwein 700 head of cattle as his share. Witbooi at once caused the five best heifers to be slaughtered. When I asked him how he could do such a thing, he asked me if I did not know that the meat of the young heifers tasted the best. For a Herero, who almost worships his cow, such a proceeding would have been impossible. But Witbooi was a Hottentot who was only accustomed to robbing others and consuming his loot.
Even when Witbooi was peaceably settled at Gibeon, he and his people scarcely thought of working or rearing cattle in order to gain a subsistence. But as they nevertheless desired to lead a comfortable life, Witbooi and his followers got more and more into debt. Hendrik, however, still retained his land even after his subjection, and nothing else therefore remained for him but to pay his debts by grants of land. He naturally demurred at first and asked what his people would have to live on if his best hunting-grounds were sold. His councillors, however, who had been the chief culprits in incurring debts, finally persuaded him to cede farms on the boundaries of his large territory with the consolation that they would still have more than they would be able to use.
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[pagina xxiii]
[p. xxiii] | |
Captain von Burgsdorf as Superintendent of Gibeon provided for Witbooi and his tribe in a most indulgent fashion, indeed to such an extent that the Germans protested to the Governor that the preferential treatment of the Witboois by von Burgsdorf was going too far altogether. Von Burgsdorf and Witbooi were generally regarded as being fast friends, who would sacrifice everything for each other.
Major Leutwein, however, allowed von Burgsdorf to continue undisturbed, for the country was in sore need of peace. In January, 1904, however, the Hereros rose in rebellion and murdered in one night all the Germans they could lay hands on. Witbooi as usual sent a part of his forces to Colonel Leutwein, but remained himself at home. It was only in October, 10 months after the outbreak of the Herero rising, that Witbooi too became restless. He wrote a letter to Colonel Leutwein, saying that the time had now been fulfilled, the ten years of peace had passed, for ten years he had walked in the paths of the law, and that the end had now come. Witbooi now left Gibeon, and when District Superintendent von Burgsdorf perceived that Witbooi was in earnest, he rode out immediately to him at Rietmond, accompanied by Lieutenant Samuel Isaak and Petrus Jod. On the way von Burgsdorf was shot treacherously from the back by Samuel Zaal, one of Witbooi's men. That was typical of Witbooi, the genuine Hottentot, the motives to whose deeds will always remain a riddle to us. Here I cannot but recall the Englishman, Selous, who resided for years in Matabeleland, where the natives called him: ‘the man who never lies.’ When during the Jameson Raid the forces of the Chartered Company were ordered from Matabeleland
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to the Transvaal, the Matabeles rose and massacred the 150 whites, mostly Englishmen, whom they could lay hands on. Selous makes lengthy observations on this in his book and comes finally to the conclusion: ‘The white man will never understand the workings of a Kaffir mind.’
When Colonel Leutwein was making preparations to set out against Witbooi with his troops, I received orders to convey provisions to Kub immediately with ten Boer transport wagons and to establish a supply depôt there.
Whenever Leutwein had lost touch with Witbooi in the Naukluft, he sent a messenger to Witbooi to ask him whether he was willing to make peace. The real object of this mission was, however, simply to find out where Witbooi was hiding. Colonel Leutwein frequently expressed his surprise at the fact that such an experienced and cunning fighter as Witbooi did not see through his real plan. But at any rate, he had to be thankful to Witbooi, for to trace him with German soldiers would have cost him many a brave man.
While I was in Kub, an old Bastard one day arrived on horseback with a long letter from Leutwein to Witbooi. I felt convinced that the Bastard was going to a sure death, and the Rehobothers apparently also thought so, as they had sent a man who would not be much of a loss to them. The man himself was uneasy and said to me, ‘Mister, ek is tog so bang; Witbooi sal my seker doodskiet, maar gee my tog 'n bietjie koffie, ek sal maar loop.’
I considered it out of the question that the man would ever come back, for Hendrik must surely by this time
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have discovered the trick. He was believed to be in the neighbourhood of Mariental, and as the time for the Bastard to be back was long past, we came to the conclusion that he had met his death. I could not, therefore, believe my eyes, when a few days later the Bastard entered Kub on foot, leading his exhausted horse by the reins. He brought a long letter from Witbooi, who had had him led blindfolded into his camp at Rietmond and had kept him there for another day with the bandage over his eyes. The Bastard had, however, persisted in his protestations that it was too cruel to treat an old man in that fashion, whereupon Witbooi had allowed him to go about freely. A couple of days passed, however, before Witbooi finished his letter to Leutwein. This letter has been published in Leutwein's book. Hendrik sent the old Bastard back with a few provisions and the remark that if he ever showed himself again in that vicinity he would be shot unconditionally. I sent the messenger with a fresh horse on to Colonel Leutwein in Rehoboth, where he was able to give the Colonel precise information as to which hut Witbooi was inhabiting in Rietmond and how his various officers were stationed in the camp. Better information could not have been furnished by 10 patrols. Besides von Burgsdorf, Witbooi had caused many other whites to be murdered, among others my old friend and travelling companion, Bernhard Mahler, in Mariental, who had always lived in the greatest friendship with him.
Colonel Leutwein was unfortunately recalled and succeeded by Colonel Deinling, who had no experience of guerilla warfare with Hottentots, for which reason the war with Witbooi was unduly prolonged in spite of all bravery. So much has, however, been written
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about the Witbooi War that I may take it for granted that it is common knowledge.
On the 29th of October, 1905, a year after Witbooi had revolted, he fell at Vaalgras, near Tses, at the end of a small skirmish with the German troops. Witbooi broke off the fight, which was carried on at a distance, and was about to retire. While mounting his horse, he received a stray bullet in the upper shin, from the results of which, principally owing to his advanced age, he died.
Hendrik Witbooi had been for a generation the terror of Namaland and Damaraland. Now he was no more. He will remain a striking personality in history: on the one hand the courageous Hottentot Captain with a certain amount of chivalry, recognised by Governor Leutwein to the extent of drinking a bottle of wine with him in the Officers' Mess; on the other hand, the cruel fanatical Hottentot, whose hands were stained with an untold amount of innocent human blood, and who changed the land of the fabulously rich Namas into a desert by his incessant campaigns.
Gustav Voigts.
Windhoek, October, 1928. |
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