slavery, under which the great body of the Hottentots of the colony are now groaning Explanation of the Chart. A. B. C. D. describe the diagram of the original grant given by Sir J. Cradock on which the institution stands: a. points out the site where the village still stands: E. F. G. H. describe the lands granted to the institution by Sir Rufane Donkin, in 1821. Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, describe the lands allotted to Mr. Grant, including the only remaining spring on the institution,-with an outpost, or village, consisting of ten huts, containing thirty-two inhabitants, most of whom are aged and diseased people, worn out in the service of the farmers, who subsist on the milk of some cows, and the produce of their gardens, and the corn land they are able to cultivate. The grant assigned to Mr. Grant contains a valuable portion of the corn-lands of the institution, together with the spring of water*, without which the grant of land made to the institution by Sir Rufane Donkin, marked E. F. G. H. will be of no use, being entirely without water except in the Karreega river, which is salt along the whole line of boundary, owing to the influx of the tide. Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, describe the lands given to Mr. Bovey. This grant includes a small spring at the mouth of the Kasouga river, barely sufficient for the culinary purposes of one or two families, and upwards of one hundred acres of land around it, which have been under cultivation by the people of the institution. On the opposite side of the river, a little higher up, stands a village or outpost, consisting of twelve huts, containing thirty-five industrious Hottentots, who support themselves and their families by their waggons and oxen, and the cultivation of about sixty acres of land, which they have fenced with great labour, and which they cultivate to advantage. This place has no permanent spring, and in the dry season is dependent for a supply of water on the spring included within the land promised to Mr. Grant. Nos. 9, 10, and 11, the dotted line within the diagram of the institution, running along its eastern boundary, will give a tolerable idea (by measuring the distance between that dotted line and the eastern boundary of the diagram) of the extent of land taken from the original grant of Sir J. Cradock to the institution, and given to Mrs. General Campbell. It may include about one thou This fountain, which is designated the brackish spring, in the section of the lands in the accompanying diagram, is denominated in the description accompanying the chart, the Long Fountain. Note." The two thousand morgens adjoining and inclosed by dotted lines in red ink, may be made use of by the institution, in addition to the original ground also inclosed by lines in red ink.”—Copied from the original grant. 2 D VOL. II. sand acres, the greater portion of which has been under cultivation, some of itfrom the year 1815. Here I beg leave to refer to the proclamation of 1817, which states that the previous cultivator of land has the first claim upon it. This land, from its contiguity to the village, the nature of the soil, and from its having a stream of water running through it, is essential to the existence of the institution. A great part of this land has been fenced in by the people of the institution, at great labour, and a part of it is now under crop. No. 12 a small valley on the Karreega, surrounded by bush, within the grant of Sir Rufane Shawe Donkin to the institution, is claimed by Mr. Dalgairns as promised to him by the governor, and on which he has already put up a hut. Theopolis, July 18, 1825. The following official letter from the Colonial Secretary, H. Alexander, Esq., to the Missionary Read, will show that the lands of Theopolis were held on precisely the same footing as those of Bethelsdorp. It has been the policy of the colonial government not to grant regular legal rights to the lands of the missionary institutions, with the view, obviously, of keeping them more dependent. Colonial Office, August 11th, 1815. Sir, I am directed by his Excellency the Governor to state, in reply to your letter of the 21st July last, that his Excellency has directed the landdrost to permit you to occupy, provisionally, the land which has been recently measured, according to the diagram which has arrived, without a valuation, in the same manner you have occupied Bethelsdorp; and authorizes me to assure you, should circumstances ever lead to a re-assumption, all improvement and building, with the expense of the survey, shall be repaid; but difficulties still occur as to the mode of making out a title, and to whom, as well as the general policy. His Excellency has no objection to the two missionaries you recommend, with their waggons and necessary attendants, proceeding on their intended mission. Mr. J. Read, Bethelsdorp. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, (Signed) HENRY ALEXANDER, No. XI. Bethelsdorp Correspondence.-(Vide vol. i., p. 316.) MY LORD,-In presenting the statement now laid before your Excellency, I beg it to be understood, that the individuals concerned in drawing it up, have no resentments to gratify; that they have no wish for redress for past wrongs; and that they have no object, on the present occasion, beyond relief from the unnecessary burdens the institution at Bethelsdorp is at present lying under. I dare not affirm, of all the missionaries at Bethelsdorp, that no one of them has ever given Colonel Cuyler ground of offence. Where there are so many clashing interests, uninterrupted harmony between the landdrost of the district and those in the management of the institution, is, perhaps, next to impossible; but whatever blame may attach to an individual, the general spirit of the institution has been decidedly favourable to Colonel Cuyler. Knowing Mr. Kitchingman to be a sensible, respectable, and moderate man, he was placed at Bethelsdorp, rather than at another station, in the hope that Colonel Cuyler and he would go on smoothly together; and the Colonel cannot be altogether ignorant, that in two instances of recent occurrence, in which prosecutions were brought forward against him, the missionaries resisted every attempt to bring them in as parties. Under a grateful sense of the personal attentions I at one time received from Colonel Cuyler, from the respect due to him as the magistrate of the district, and with a sincere desire of conciliating the Colonel toward the institution, I waited on him on my arrival at Uitenhage, on my last journey into the interior, but he refused to see me; and this circumstance, together with what has taken place since, has left me no alternative but the one now adopted, that of submitting all the differences between the landdrost and the conductors of the missionary institution at Bethelsdorp to the decision of your Excellency. I have in my possession a vast variety of facts, showing the hardships and injuries to the Hottentots, which have arisen from the system pursued by the landdrost; but as those facts cannot be established without going into evidence,-to shorten the process, and to save your Excellency as much trouble as possible, I have laid them aside for the present. By this plan, the general effect of the statement is considerably impaired; but this deficiency will, in a measure, be compensated by superseding the necessity of further investigation. The letters of the landdrost are our witnesses, and not only vouch for the facts exhibited, but are indeed the facts themselves. If any doubt arise respecting the accuracy of the copies, the originals are at hand, and can at any time be compared with them. I have the honour to be, &c. &c., To his Excellency (Signed) JOHN PHILIP." Lord Charles Henry Somerset, &c. &c. Cape Town, 1822. A Statement of the Hardships to which the Hottentots at the Institution of Bethelsdorp, in the District of Uitenhage, are exposed; also respecting the Disadvantages under which the Missionaries at that Station labour. He IN laying before your Excellency a statement of the hardships to which the Hottentots at the Institution of Bethelsdorp are exposed, and of the disadvantages under which the missionaries at that station labour, we beg leave most respectfully to solicit that relief which the case demands, and which we cannot doubt will be afforded when your Excellency is made fully acquainted with the grievances of which we have to complain. An inquiry into the nature of those grievances was instituted by his Excellency the late acting governor, on his visit to that station in May, 1821, and a partial reform was then effected through the representations made by the missionary at the head of that establishment. had been for some time past obliged to provide men often three, four, or five times, weekly, to convey letters addressed to the commandant or the commissary at Port Elizabeth, also to field-cornets, or elsewhere; and on the arrival of answers or other communications from that port, the missionary was required to transmit them to the drostdy of Uitenhage, whilst no compensation was paid to the persons performing these duties. Nor could the head of this institution decline the services thus imposed on his people, how much soever their own duties might demand their attention. This circumstance having been taken into consideration by his Excellency, orders were issued by his Excellency the acting governor, to provide other means of conveyance for such letters; and the desired relief was in this instance afforded. We are therefore warranted to hope, that when a clear and full statement of the causes of complaint is submitted to your Excel+ lency's notice, we shall meet with that justice which is due to the individuals forming the Bethelsdorp institution, as free men and British subjects. The object of the statement is not to bring forward complaints. arising out of circumstances which have long since transpired, but to state things as they actually exist, and we shall therefore confine ourselves to such facts only as have occurred during the course of the two preceding years, and are now daily taking place to 11 The institution consists of a limited number of persons; most of |