shall have occasion, in future, to correct any inadvertency into which they may have fallen, in their statements, I shall feel that I am injured, if it is construed into disrespect to them, or if it is ascribed to any other motive than that which arises from the interest I take in the cause of suffering humanity.

His Majesty's Commissioners of Inquiry did not visit the northern frontier of the colony, or the tribes beyond it; and it cannot be disrespectful to them to say that, in the following passage in their Reports, they must have received their information from ignorant or interested observers :

"The pursuits of the people to whom the occupation of tracts, under the name of "Request Places," has been granted by the magistrate of the district, and which are yet unconfirmed and unsurveyed, consist, altogether, of grazing sheep and cattle during certain parts of the year, and keeping up an illicit trade in fire-arms and gunpowder, with the Griquas and Bechuana tribes, who, under the guidance of elective chiefs, and assemblies of the most popular form and structure, are endeavouring to establish an ascendancy over their remoter brethren; and at the same time, to maintain a war of extermination against the unfortunate Bushmen, who have no property to lose. To these ravages have been attributed the deplorable state of distress, to which many of these tribes have been reduced, and which have led numbers to seek refuge and subsistence in the colony, where they have been apprenticed to those colonists who are not slave-owners.".

The Bechuanas, who have had any intercourse with the colony, have never, in one instance, by the means furnished by an illicit traffic, or by any other means,

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attempted to establish an ascendancy over the native tribes here described; and while they, themselves, have been sufferers by the disturbances to which allusion is made, they had no share in the transactions by which so many of their countrymen have been ruined The real cause of the distress of the Bechuanas, who are here described as having come into the colony seeking refuge, and likewise the manner in which they were brought into the colony, have been related in a former chapter in this volume, and the statements then made, were furnished me by the Bergenaars themselves, and are corroborated by an official document of Mr. Melvill's, transmitted to the colonial office in Cape Town, while the Commissioners of Inquiry were upon the spot. What we have stated in defence of the Bechuanas is equally applicable to the Griqua tribes, down to the period at which Mr. Melvill was settled among them as the agent of government. The Griqua chiefs, so far from having contributed, in any measure, to bring upon the Bechuanas the distress described by the Commissioners, brought all the distress upon themselves and upon their people which they have since suffered, by their attempts to put a stop to the plundering expeditions of the Bergenaars and the nefarious traffic carried on between them and the colonists. After having warned the Bergenaars against continuing the plundering expeditions, and finding that these warnings had no effect, they attacked them, took several thousand head of cattle from them, rescuing, at the same time, the captives they had in their hands, to whom they gave the cattle which they claimed; and this was done under the direction of the government agent, in the hope that the colonial government would approve of the

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measure, and encourage the chiefs in their attempts to protect the Bechuana tribes, and preserve the peace the frontier. The Bergenaars, by the profitable traffic they were carrying on with the colony, had, by this time, become powerful, and a retaliation was threatened. Mr. Melvill and the Griqua chiefs, finding that they had now brought themselves into a perilous situation, proposed to renew their application to the colonial government for encouragement and assistance. With this view, Mr. Melvill and Waterboer, the chief of Griqua Town, visited Cape Town, and Mr. Melvill was very much astonished, on his admission to the colonial office, to find there a Captain Bonamy, who had been employed as a land-surveyor in the Bushman country, and who, it appeared, had travelled to Cape Town to defend the conduct of the Bergenaars. It is impossible to look at this circumstance and not ask how the colonists should have shown so much zeal in supporting this banditti? The special pleadings of this gentleman were very soon silenced by the facts and witnesses Mr. Melvill had to produce.

At the close of this interview, which took place on the 25th November, 1824, Mr. Melvill was required to furnish the governor with a written statement, in reference to the subject under discussion. In compliance with this request, he drew up a document which is dated 17th December, and was delivered into the colonial government on the same day. From this official paper, we made some extracts, which will be found at page 82 of the present volume, and we shall avail ourselves of a few more extracts from the same article, which will be found sufficient for my present purpose. They must satisfy every unprejudiced reader, that the disorders on

the frontier of the colony, adverted to by the Commissioners, did not originate in the ambition of the Griqua chiefs.

"The difficulty of introducing regulations among a people rising into civilization is, I believe, universally acknowledged. These difficulties were felt when attempting to introduce the regulations approved by government among the Griquas; one of the difficulties is, that all the family connections of an offender join in protecting him from punishment; and owing to this, the chiefs no sooner attempted to punish an individual for a crime, than he fled to the Bergenaars and found protection, and very frequently his connections went away with him. While the Bergenaars were thus encouraging these deserters, they strengthened themselves to resist all law and authority. I know of instances of criminals who have been immediately pardoned, to prevent them and their family connections from running over to the Bergenaars.

"In reference to the danger or advantage likely to arise from abandoning or supporting the people under the chiefs, I think it my duty to make a few observations. The Griquas are now divided; the most respectable part have expected support, and expressed their attachment to the colonial government. This party, with their chief, are still willing to remain connected with the colony, and to enforce the laws and regulations approved of by government. The other party, taking offence at various causes already mentioned, began to show their disaffection at an early period, and left Griqua Town, and the other places, to reside in the mountains: since that time, numbers have joined them, and their party is every day strengthening. They reside within a few

hours' ride of the colony, have constant intercourse with the colonists, and are carrying on depredations among the native tribes-by which thousands of these wretched people are compelled to wander about in quest of subsistence; and, more desperate than the wildest Bushmen, are under the necessity of plundering others or of perishing of hunger. Under these circumstances, can there be any doubt which of these parties it is the interest of the colony to support? By assisting the Griqua chiefs and their adherents, the colonial government will afford encouragement to a people living under good regulations, preserve the peace of the frontier, maintain a good understanding with all the Bechuana tribes beyond the Orange river, who look to the Griqua chiefs as their friends and benefactors, and promote civilization, and all its fruits. By supporting the Bergenaars, the Griqua chiefs will become discouraged, and be in danger of being irritated; while the Bergenaars, who are the secret enemies of the colony, will acquire strength by every new expedition; and, by the accession of all disorderly characters and deserters from the colony, they will spread terror and desolation all around, and will preclude the possibility of penetrating into the interior. This state of things could not be suffered to continue: must ultimately call for the interference of government, and a commando will not then easily remove the evil.

"I do not state these things from any prejudice against the Bergenaars as individuals, but from a sense of duty, to point out the danger to which the frontier may in future be exposed, and the means of avoiding it, by the adoption of suitable measures at the present important crisis. As to the dependence or independence of the Griquas, I beg leave to say, that the relation that