liberate and blood-thirfty ruffians the peafantry of the Gape
are compofed.
Extradl of a letter' written from the Sneuwberg, the 29th
day of January 1803, figned O. A. S. Meyer, and addrefled to
Cornelis de Kok, in Cape Town.
“ I am going to inform you of fomething that happened on
* the 6th of December 1802. About the evening three Bof-
“ jefmans came to the houfe of the Burger Cornelis Janfen,
“ having with them three pack-oxen (draag-offen) ; the faid
“ Janfen immediately reported it to the commandant (Feld--
“ Cornet), who inftantly fent an armed party (commando) to his
“ houfe. On the following day, being the 7th, there came
“ twelve more to them, having three guns and three pack-oxen;
“ all the reft were well armed with bows, arrows, and haffagays.
“ The commandant Berger went himfelf to Janfeh’s in the
“ morning to afk the reafon of their coming there, when he
“ difcovered that eight of them were Koranas and feven Bof-
“ jefmans. Being aiked by the party what they came to do,
“ they faid that they were come to beg a little dacba {hemp) and
“ tobacco. The commandant had the fame anfwer, but he
“ underjlood the way to quejlion them fo clofely, that he brought
“ them to open confejjion (by horrid tortures no doubt), that they
“ came to examine how their farms (plaatzen) were to be at-
“ tacked; and alfo to fee if'there was water enough to come
“ with a great troop. Being afked who had fent them, they
“ anfwered Triiter and the Englifh miffionary Kicberer, in or-
“ der to fpy the places, and return to the kraal whtere Kicberer
, “ and
“ and Triiter would wait their return, to furniih them with
“ mufquets, powder, and ball. On being aiked how they were
“ to execute it ? they anfwered, by attacking the farm-houfes
“ by two and two at the fame time, fo that they could not
“ aifift one another. A l l t h e f i f t e e n w e h a v e s h o t
“ d e a d {doodge/chooten), h a v i n g f i r s t e x t o r t e d t h i s
“ c o n f e s s i o n f r o m t h e m . The hat which Triiter gave to
“ the captain we have got; it is a black one with a filver band,
“ and a cane with a brafs head, on which is engraved “ Captain
“ Kauwinnoub.” Mark now with what murderous intentions
“ is this Triiter infpired againft us ! To have us all maflacred
“ in our houfes !
“ You may with great fafety ihew this to Andries Muller.
“ (Signed) O. A. S. MEYER.”
I obferved in the preliminary chapter of this volume, that
Meflrs. Triiter and Somerville had penetrated farther into
the interior of South Africa than any former Europeans. Thefe
gentlemen were fent in an official capacity, with a view of procuring
a fupply of draught oxen, on a ferious alarm being entertained,
and reprefentations made to government, that the
operations of agriculture muft be fufpended, on account of the
numbers of cattle that had periihed through the drought of the
year 1800, unlefs a freih fupply could be obtained from fome of
the bordering tribes of the original inhabitants. Though thefe reprefentations
were meant, in all probability, to be the foundation
of a fcheme fimilar to many of the fame kind which were
praftifed under the Dutch government, with no other view
than