longer by the negroes than may suit their convenience. In the laBt battle,
at the date of the visit of the Mississippi, in which the English force, headed
by General Oathcart himself, was victorious, it is said that the Caffre chief
brought into aotion six thousand foot and Wo thousand horse. These numbers
are probably exaggerated, but it is well known that the blacks have acquired
a tolerable organization, and that they are well supplied with arms
and ammunition. They have hitherto had an abundance of provision, obtained
from their own herds or from those stolen from the whites, but report
says that, owing to the carelessness and waste always attendant upon the
military movements of savages, the supply of food is running short with them.
The English declare that the Caffres have been instructed in the art of war
by numerous deserters from the British Army and by a French Missionary
settled among them, who passed his early life in the army. Allusion has
already been made to the disastrous effects of the war upon the agricultural
and other resources of the country. -
The principal white inhabitants of Cape Town are the government officials,
army officers, and merchants and tradesmen. The laboring class is composed
of the mixed races, the Malays, Coolies, and the negroes. The emancipated
negroes and their descendants are very much, in character and condition,
like the free blacks in the United States, though by no means as intelligent
and good looking. They are perfectly independent of all restraint, so
long as they do not violate the laws. They work when it suits them, and at
their own prices, and break off from their labor if spoken to in a manner
which they deem offensive. Their ordinary charge for labor is $1 25 for a
day of ten hours. ,1TT11
The Mississippi having taken on board from the ship Eaneuil Hall a supply
of coal, and a good supply of bullocks and sheep, and having filled the
water tanks, left Table Bay at eleven o’clock, a. m., on the 3d February. On
getting fairly out of the harbor, the wind was found to be blowing strong
from the westward, with a heavy swell setting in from that quarter. In
seven hours after leaving Table Bay the steamer was off the pitch of the
Cape, whence, leaving Cape Haaglip full in sight, her course was directed
southeast in order to reach the parallel of thirty-seven degrees of latitude, to
avoid the southeast gales which prevail near the Cape, and cause a strong current
to the northward and westward, and to meet the variables which are
found south of the border of the southeast trades.
For the first three days after leaving the Cape, the wind blew from the
northwest to the southwest until the steamer reached the latitude of 36° 16'
S. and the longitude of 23° 40' E., when it changed to the northward
and eastward, rather north, and so remained to the latitude of’ 35° 06',
and longitude 44° 03'. At this latter point the wind gradually hauled to
the southward, allowing the course of the ship to be inclined more to the
northward, until the southeast trades were met. The Commodore, however,