listener," said the old gentleman, closing the book; " and I see that rogue Mr. Jan Brown, heartily laughing in his sleeve, and quizzing me to his heart's content. Let us, therefore, turn from the past to the present; and to-morrow morning, when you see the lovely prospect on each side -vineyards from which the luscious grape has just been pluckedorchards and orange groves surrounding the most beautiful villas, and snug-looking farms; you will agree with me, that even Jean Jacques Rousseau, or the greatest advocates of our own times for savage and uncivilized life, would, on comparing so soft and bewitching a landscape, and its happy, industrious and Christian population, as it now is, with what it once was-when the wild beasts of the forest contended for its possession with naked and cruel barbarians, scarcely more humanized, and far more cruel and vindictive than themselves-you will allow that Rousseau, if he had only read of, or seen all that I have heard, and personally witnessed, of the atrocities so frequently committed by uncivilized hordes of savages-that even Monsieur Jean Jacques himself, would, on beholding the happy and peaceful scene before us, have become a convert to the benefits arising from Christianity and civilization."

"But who," inquired I, can for a moment question such benefits, or wish for a single instant that this now apparently earthly paradise should again fall into the original barbarous condition which you describe ?"

"Strange as it may appear," replied he, "there are nevertheless in the colony a set of men, prompted by the most worldly views, but who, under the cloak of religion and philanthropy are still, and have long been doing everything in their power to restore such a state of things unfortunately for the colony, these people are supported by a strong party at home; and under the specious plea of protecting the natives from alleged cruelty and oppression on the part of the colonists, edicts have been passed of the most injurious nature to the latter, and which have only tended to occasion mischief and bloodshed, by causing discontent amongst the former, and exciting them to acts of violence and rebellion,—and I am sorry to say that one or two English writers of established credit, among whom may be reckoned Mr. Barrow, have added fuel to the flame by propagating similar doctrines."

"Of the few works," observed I, "which I was able to procure in London before my departure, relative to the Cape, was that of the author you allude to, whose book I attentively read through during the passage out; and certainly if he be credited, the Dutch never showed much consideration for the native tribes whom they subdued. Le Vaillant also, whose works I have likewise read, gives sad accounts of tyranny and oppression, which I sincerely hope may not be correct." "Correct they most certainly are not," said the old Dutchman, warming as he spoke; "but, moreover, they are all false as hell! If you have sufficient patience," added he, "I will give you a short account of the actual proceedings of the Dutch since their first occupation of the Cape,-an account, for the accuracy of which I can vouch, and am able to refer you as to chapter and verse, to many old authors who have fully written on the subject, and who as fully disprove these charges of cruelty, treachery, and oppression laid at our door, regarding the treatment of the Hottentots, and other aboriginal native tribes,-aye! as completely as the same sort of accusations

against your own countrymen, have been of late completely confuted, regarding their conduct towards the Kaffirs on the eastern frontier."

Anxious to learn anything on a subject of which I was obliged to confess the most perfect ignorance, I gladly acceded to this proposal, and Mynheer then continued his narrative, much to the following effect:"You are, I dare say, aware that the Portuguese were the first modern discoverers of the Cape of Good Hope, which they named the 'Cabo dos Tormentos,' or Cape of Storms; and that they, moreover, turned this discovery to but very little account. It is not, however, so generally known that about a hundred and fifty years after that event, the British flag was planted on the southern extremity of Africa, which was then formally taken possession of by the English East India Company in the name of King James the First.

"The British government-who at that time would appear to have been equally supine in everything relating to colonial affairs as they are at the present day,—took no further steps in this appropriation of territory; the measure was apparently allowed to drop; and it was only in 1652, that finding it still unoccupied, Holland attempted first to form a settlement in this part of the world. Van Riebeck, a surgeon in the Dutch East India Company, and who had had opportunities of furnishing his government with much information relative to the Cape, was the person intrusted to carry this design into effect.

"On landing at Table Bay, he found only a few wretched natives, living in constant apprehension of more powerful tribes, who appeared periodically to visit this part of the coast, for the purpose of depasturing their herds and flocks, and who waged amongst themselves the most barbarous and bloody wars.

"Under these circumstances, the conduct of the Dutch towards the aborigines appears in the most favourable light, as contrasted with that of other European settlers in different parts of the world. Unlike the Spaniards, who, led by Cortez and Pizarro, dealt forth death and destruction under the banners of the Cross ;-unlike your own countrymen, whose principle of colonization in North America was the extirpation of the native tribes-Van Riebeck, on the contrary, pursued the most friendly and conciliatory course towards the original inhabitants of the Cape.

"He issued the most stringent orders to prevent their being in any way annoyed or molested by his people. He immediately entered with them on a system of barter and trade: he acted as a kind mediator between the various hostile tribes, and did all in his power to put a stop to the shocking atrocities they so unrelentingly committed on each other during their cruel and bloody feuds.

"Van Riebeck next entered into a treaty with the several tribes ; purchased from the chiefs the tract of land about Table Bay, and with their full consent and concurrence, laid the foundation of Cape Town, on the spot where it stands at the present day.

"Such is the true statement of the first establishment of the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, which originally was not intended to become

This purchase, which is mentioned by several authors who have written on that part of the world, and likewise in Van Riebeck's Journal (amongst the "Records of the Cape"), is stated to have been concluded at the cost of fifty thousand guilders' worth of "toys and other commodities." A few years subsequent to this transaction, it is recorded that a similar purchase was made by the Dutch of "all that tract of land called Terra du Natal,"

a colony, but merely a station, where their vessels trading to the East might receive such supplies of fresh water and provisions as they required during the-at that period-long and tedious outward and homeward voyage.

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"The natives-(called Hottentots' by the Dutch), would not, however, after agreeing to its establishment,-allow the infant settlement to remain at peace; they took every opportunity of committing the most bare-faced robberies, continually plundered our cattle, often murdered the people who were in charge of them, and were-like the Kaffirs of the present day-ever the aggressors in those wars which consequently ensued, and during which they were of course always worsted, and driven by degrees further and further back from the coast; till we came in contact with those widely-spread hordes called the Baroas,' or as they are generally termed, Bushmen,'-a still more mischievous and degraded race than the Hottentots; a race which might almost be said to form the connecting link between man and the inferior animals: so completely did they appear to possess all the attributes and propensities of the brute creation,-attributes and propensities which they fully retain to the present day.

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"These diminutive, but formidable savages (from their expertness in the use of the bow and poisoned arrows), so exasperated the Boers by their continued depredations, accompanied by acts of the most revolting atrocity, that the latter had at last recourse to extreme measures, and began a system of shooting them down without compunction whenever they were met with; and breaking through the humane rule which the Dutch had hitherto strictly observed towards all the other native tribes of this part of the world, such of the Baroa women or children as they captured were reduced to the condition of slaves.

"For this proceeding, the Boers of the remote districts of the interior, have been perhaps justly blamed; still great allowances must be made for a set of rude, uneducated men, thus left to their own resources, uncontrolled by any superior power, aggravated by repeated injuries and aggression, and obliged in self-defence to take the law into their own hands; whilst it may be asked: how many of their severest detractors would, under similar circumstances, have refrained from acting in a precisely similar manner?

"Meanwhile another enemy, more savage and more formidable than any of the native races before alluded to, were, after driving the Hottentots before them from the banks of the Kye, now fast intruding on the Dutch settlements at the Cape. I allude to those Bechuana tribes, at present so well known as the Kaffirs,' who, towards the middle of last century, first came in collision with such of the Dutch colonists as were then recently settled in that fertile tract of country, which (from fear of their ferocious invaders) had been utterly deserted and abandoned by the Hottentots, and at that time was known as the Zuureveldt,' or as it is now to be called, Albany,' in honour, I believe, of the Duke of York: the present destination of the British emigrants who have just arrived, and of the party to which you yourself belong.

"As regards the Kaffirs of the period to which I allude-and whose cupidity was excited on beholding the rich colonial herds and flocksthey shortly commenced a system of pillage, which the Boers, unsupported by any military aid, were obliged in self-defence to repel by force of arms. The now much-condemned Commando' system was

then established, which, in other words consisted in the border colonists relying for defence on themselves alone. This system was abolished on the English taking possession of the Cape; but rest assured it must eventually be restored, unless you mean to keep up an overwhelming military force on the frontier, and to tax your nation to an enormous amount, in order to defray the expenses of constantly recurring wars. "Mr. Barrow, whose work bears the date of the period I have just alluded to, and before your countrymen had obtained any experience of the sort of customers they were likely to find amongst the Kaffirs, is loud in his censure on the Commando' system; but the events which have occurred since his time, and the knowledge the English must ere this have obtained of the Kaffirs, will no doubt tend to remove the delusion, that these crafty barbarians can with safety be treated like civilized nations. Were any further proof wanting to remove such an erroneous impression, the desperate and unprovoked attempt they so recently made on Graham's Town, ought, and no doubt will, convince the most incredulous, of the folly of dealing leniently with a set of savages, who set alike at defiance the laws of both God and man.

*

"Their leader and instigator in this nefarious attempt: the notorious 'prophet' Makannah, was fortunately captured, and is now safely secured on Robben Island, an isolated rock in Table Bay; and yet this very act, one of justifiable retribution, and absolutely taken in selfdefence, has caused, with a certain soi-disant godly party, as great an outcry as the seclusion of Bonaparte at St. Helena, did, and I believe still does, amongst his many remaining admirers.

"But you will probably soon have an opportunity of learning more about the Kaffirs, and I only trust and hope that such knowledge may not be obtained at your own cost, or at that of your friends and fellowcountrymen now proceeding to the eastern frontier."

"You indeed surprise me," observed I, "by your account of the strange infatuation which appears to pervade all our transactions with the native tribes, and I am only astonished that a man like Barrow could have lent himself to propagate such erroneous opinions as he appears to have done."

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"Yes, indeed," replied mine host, "Barrow has been most unjust in his strictures on my poor countrymen in this part of the world, and is, moreover, accused of not having been prompted in so doing, by the most upright or generous of motives; however, it is not fair, nor should allow youself to form an opinion from a one-sided view of the question; after perusing Barrow's strictures and Le Vaillant's romance (for I can call his book by no other name), you must, if you have time, read the works of several other disinterested authors, which you will find here in my library-amongst which Leichtenstein-and, above all, if you have patience for such a task, I would strongly recommend you to peruse a few manuscript papers I have myself compiled and translated into English, from the old Records of the Cape,' where you will likewise find the report of your own countryman, Colonel Collins, who was

The attack upon Graham's Town, here alluded to, took place in 1819. That Mynheer Van Hartzfeld was mistaken in the supposition that the English would gain knowledge from experience, has been fully proved by subsequent events; and to say nothing of the Kaffir irruptions of 1834 and 1846-the events of recent occurrence in Southern Africa most fully demonstrate the Kaffirs to be still the same "irreclaimable barbarians," as described by the late Sir Benjamin d'Urban.

sent out here as a Commissioner some nine or ten years back, to investigate the state of affairs at the Cape of Good Hope."

"The captain' had in that case better, at once, pitch his tent here, at Wynberg, and give up all idea of the frontier," observed my friend Brown, raising his eyes, which I remarked had long been fixed on the pretty face of his antagonist, who appeared to be particularly engrossed by some very intricate move of the game, that, like many other games of chess played under similar circumstances, seemed to progress at a marvellously slow pace.

"Ah! Mr. Jan, mind your game, or else I plainly see you will lose a very important piece, for you appear, during the last twenty minutes, to have been completely checkmated by Mejufvrouw Annetjie's soft hazel eyes."

The culprits looked abashed: the "hazel eyes" became more intently riveted upon the board; roseate blushes suffused the fair Africander's pretty face, now fully divulged by a broad stream of light which suddenly lit up the apartment, bringing out the smallest objects in distinct relief.

Annetjie hastily left her seat, upset the chess-board as she rose; and, as if glad of such an excuse, rushed towards the open door, exclaiming, "Och Oom !". uttered something about the "plaats "-I caught the words," algemeene brand "-and on joining her, with the rest of our party, on the stoep, I beheld the whole country in our front, apparently enveloped in one universal blaze.

ANACREONTIC.

WHOE'ER through the page of Anacreon has wander'd,
Partaking his rapture and fired by his lay,

On the sorrows of Cupid perchance may have ponder'd,
When stung by the Bee in the midst of his play:

May have smiled too when Venus his anguish perceiving,
In sportive derision thus soothed his despair,
"If such be the pain with which Cupid is grieving,
What hope for the bosom his weapons shall tear."

But Venus, while thus his lament she derided,
In secret rejoiced that the urchin had fled,

For she knew that his power, though so high it presided,
Was weak 'gainst the creature that Industry sped.

A moral how sage might the story illumine,

The lesson it teaches how precious and plain,

We might learn to escape the allurements of woman,
And beauty and passion would tempt us in vain.

The bosom that muses in pensive enjoyment,
May well be a victim to love or disdain,

But the heart that 's enliven'd by constant employment,
Escapes from its torment and laughs at its pain.

Thus Sloth, too degraded for mental exertion,
Sinks crush'd by the ruins it cannot repair,
While Industry, aided by self-form'd diversion,
Can triumph o'er passion and conquer despair.