,.. .. ~ ' t , THE NAfAL SOCIETY OFFICE BEARERS, 1975-76 President Cr. Miss P. A. Reid Vice-Presidents Prof. A. F. Hattersley (deceased, July 1976) M. J. C. Daly, Esq. A. C. Mitchell, Esq. Trustees A. C. Mitchell, Esq. Dr. R. E. Stevenson M. J. C. Daly, Esq. Treasurers Messrs. Dix, Boyes and Co. Anditol'S Messrs. R. Thornton-Dibb and Son Chief Librarian A. S. C. Hooper Secretary P. C. G. McKenzie COUNCIL Elected Members Cr. Miss P. A. Reid (Chairman) M. J. C. Daly, Esq. (Vice-Chairman) Dr. F. C. Friedlander R. Owen, Esq. D. D. Croudace, Esq. Dr. J. Clark Mrs. S. Evelyn-Wright W. G. Anderson, Esq. D. E. Schauder, Esq. F. Martin, Esq., M.E.C. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF NATALIA Dr. J. Clark Dr. B. J. T. Leverton Miss M. P. Moberly Mrs. S. P. M. Spencer Miss J. Farrer , . ~ f Natalia 6 (1976) Copyright Natal Society Foundation 2010SA ISSN 0085 3674 Printed by The Natal Witness (Pty) Ltd. Contents Page EDITORIAL 5 OBITUARY U. E. M. Judd (1917-1976) - I. Whitelaw and I. Farrer 9 ARTICLE Colenso's Greatest Sermon - I. Clark . 12 REPRINT What doth the Lord require of us? - I. W. Colenso 15 SERIAL ARTICLE The Origins of the Natal Society: Chap 6, 1851U. E. M. ludd . 24 ARTICLE A Curiosity of Natal Settler Literature - I. Clark 28 NOTES AND QUERIES D. H. Strutt, M. P. Moberly .. 34 REGISTER OF RESEARCH ON NATAL I. Farrer . ...... 49 REVIEWS AND NOTICES 53 People of the Eland 53 Catholic Beginnings 54 Fashion in South Africa 55 Dictionary of English Usage in Southern Africa 56 The Bent Pine . . 57 The Historian of Victorian Natal 58 REGISTER OF SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS M. P. Moberly . 62 SELE= LIST OF RECENT NATAL PUBLICATIONS I. Farrer . 64 Our Next Issue Next year's Natalia (1977) will contain a reprint of an almost unknown pamphlet, namely, a series of letters written by a Perthshire ploughman who arrived in Natal by the Byrne emigrant-ship Ina in March 1850. His name was Thomas Duff and he first settled on the former lands of the defunct Natal Cotton Company seven miles (about 11 km) from Verulam and later at the Umhlanga. His first earnings came from working as one of a gang of other emigrants hired to dig a ditch across the sandbar at Durban. His letters headed from 'The Emigrants' Shed, Durban' reveal interesting social and economic facts of the 1850s. 5 Editorial In the year that has elapsed since the publication of Natalia No. 5 we have suffered the loss of Professor Colin de B. Webb as chairman of the editorial board consequent on his appointment to the post of King George V Professor of History, University of Cape Town. We are glad that Professor Webb has been found worthy of this prestigious position but at the same time regret that we have lost the companionship and active help of an unusually gifted man. During his five years as editor he has seen this magazine grow in readership year by year until a stage has been reached when Africana dealers are already searching for the earliest copies. Energetic and conscientious, Professor Webb set high standards not only in the selection of material but also in the production and printing of the magazine. No one worked harder in the search for original material, the result being that historical material, previously unknown and unpublished, has appeared for the first time in the pages of Natalia. Because of the quality of the magazine it has been found that highly regarded writers are not averse to their work appearing in its pages, despite the fact that no remuneration is as yet possible. We shall remember, too, with pleasure the editorial meetings held by Professor Webb and the lively discussions on future articles, themes, illustrations, and additional features for the benefit of our readers. What ordinary editor, for example, would have conceived the idea of printing an entire index for Professor Hattersley's useful but unindexed book Portrait of a City? It is true to say that Professor Webb's ideas for Natalia were not only academically sound but original, stimulating, and always relevant. The members of the editorial board wish him happiness and success in his new academic appointment and trust that although he has vacated his post as editor of Natalia he will in the near future assume an equally valuable role - that of contributor. Alexander Beale, Librarian, Natal Society, 1865-1901 He was a short, sturdily built man with a wooden leg and a most genial manner. Much as he loved the books over which he presided, he was not a learned man, and he once defined 'autobiography' to a perplexed subscriber as 'a book by an author unknown'. - Alan F. Hattersley This man, the subject of the picture on our front cover, was a tailor who emigrated to Natal from Weymouth, England, in the 1860s and became the part-time librarian of the Natal Society when he was 25 years of age. He was one of 19 applicants. Since the salary was minimal, one can guess that Natal was suffering one of the worst of its frequent financial depressions. Beale combined his duties with running an outfitting business in Pietermaritzburg, advertising himself in the Natal Almanac for five successive 6 Editorial years as of 'Weymouth House', Timber Street, Pietermaritzburg, tailor, clothier, and outfitter, offering a 'Choice Selection of Ready Made Clothing and every Other article requisite for a Gentleman's Outfit.' In 1865 he started as librarian and in 1878 abandoned the tailoring business to work full-time at the library, small though his salary must have been. After his appointment his first action was to close the library so that he could catalogue the books and bring them into a semblance of order. His catalogue, greatly enlarged of course, remained in use until 1906 when his successor John Ross reclassified all the books according to the Dewey decimal system and made new catalogue cards. Beale, as mentioned by Professor Hattersley, had a wooden leg as a result of an accident previous to arriving in Natal. Despite this handicap he was active and thought nothing of walking out to Town Bush Valley to spend the evening with friends. Also interested in swimming, he was treasurer of the local swimming club from 1875 to 1886. Horticulture was his hobby and here again he acted as secretary of the Horticultural Society from 1875 to 1905 and as secretary-treasurer of the Agricultural Society from 1888 to 1892. In 1872 he married a Scots girl from Musselburgh and of their children four reached adulthood. Some descendants remain in Pietermaritzburg. On his retirement the Natal Society council toasted him in champagne and presented him with a cheque for 70. Thereafter he worked as an accountant for some years. At the time of his death in Pietermaritzburg in May 1918 he was over 77 years of age. * * * Round him there has gathered a number of humorous anecdotes passed on by the late Mrs. Fincken, a Pope-Ellis by birth, who was related to Dr P. C. Sutherland, second surveyor-general of Natal. Sutherland, a member of the Natal Society council, had a quaint Victorian sense of humour and loved teasing people. On one occasion he was standing in the library room discussing some matter with Bea1e. In a fit of absent-mindedness Beale scratched his wooden leg. 'What's the matter, Beale?' enquired the doctor. 'White ants?' Another anecdote describes how the museum department of the Natal Society was anxious to get a specimen of a python. Eventually in 1888 John Pope-Ellis shot a large one with a shotgun, put it into a bag with a silk handkerchief tied round its neck, and brought it into the committee-room for examination. When it was pulled out by the handkerchief and displayed. it turned out to be only stunned and began writhing over the floor. As one man, the board members jumped on to the solid table, all except Beale, who remained standing impregnable on his wooden leg. The last story concerns Sutherland again. On a visit to the library he asked Beale for a book whose title, shall we say, was Locke on Gold. Beale replied, 'No, I haven't got Locke on Gold but what I have got is Browne on Knowledge, and knowledge is better than gold.' Such were the stories that delighted our Victorian great-grandparents in the Natal of a century ago. 7 Editorial Beale's memory lingered in the old library building in Theatre Lane until the 1975 move to the modern block in Churchill Square. Apparently on certain occasions a tapping noise, perhaps caused by water hammering in the pipes, made itself heard in the century-old building. Some imaginative teenage girl on the staff of the library connected this noise ",ith the story of Beale's wooden leg and so created the legend that it was Beale's ghost stumping around the rooms where he had spent half a lifetime. If it is Beale's ghost, no nervous girl need have any fear - it will be a talkative, genial spirit. Professor G. S. Nienaber Many of his friends, former students, and colleagues in Pietermaritzburg gathered at functions last year to bid farewell to Professor 'Gawie' Nienaber on his departure to take up a post in Pretoria with the Human Sciences Research Council. So an association of almost 50 years with the University of Natal comes to an end. He took up his new appointment, which is for three years on an annual basis, in April this year. His work is connected with the Placenames Centre of the Human Sciences Research Council and involves the professor in the compilation of about 2 000 to 3 000 Khoe-Khoen placenames derived from Hottentot sources. Already 3 000 names have been collected, annotated, and prepared for the press. These words will appear at the end of 1976 in two volumes comprising over 1 000 pages. Naturally the Human Sciences Research Council is anxious to obtain the remainder. The collection of material has meant for the professor years of work and extensive travel to obtain accurate information from Namas and Europeans on the spot. He calculates that he has motored thousands of kilometres through Namaqualand and South and South West Africa. His interest in the subject was first aroused by his earlier study of the Afrikaans language up to 1800. There he found that many Hottentot words had influenced both Afrikaans and English. Words like quagga, buchu, dagga, gogga, canna (root), kaross, kierie, and oribi which are found in both Afrikaans and English are derived from the Hottentot language, and there are hundreds more. It is interesting to know that the first list of Hottentot words, 31 in all, was made in 1620 by the Englishman Thomas Herbert. In 1655 Etienne de Flacourt, French governor of Madagascar, visited Saldanha Bay, where he collected about 400 words, and so the search continued. Professor Nienaber is the latter day successor to these early etymologists and is one of the most distinguished of that small group of South African scholars who have made this branch of philology their life work. In addition, he will long be affectionately remembered as one of the great teachers of the University of Natal. A Natal historian from overseas Earlier this year some of the history-minded people in Natal had the pleasure of meeting Dr Shula Marks. She was on a visit to Pietermaritzburg to carry out research in the Natal Archives. Dr Marks is a member of the history department of the School of Oriental and African studies at the 8 Editorial University of London. She is also the author of Reluctant Rebellion: the 19061908 Disturbances in Natal, one of the volumes in the series Oxford Studies in African Affairs, published by the Clarendon Press in 1970. This wellresearched book made something of a stir by its revelation of the ugly face of Natal colonialism and its unflattering assessment of political figures of the time. Dr Marks is at present writing another book, on twentieth century Natal. Another visiting historian During April of this year Donald R. Morris, a reserve officer of the us. Navy, visited Durban to see some friends. At the same time he visited a large bookshop and was photographed holding a copy of his best-selling book. It was, of course, The Washing of the Spears, regarded by many as the definitive account of the 1879 Zulu War and a work which occupied its author for eight years. During this time he carried out his main research in Britain ("since 90 per cent of South Africa's story is in that country") and spent a total of only six weeks in Natal and Zululand, where people like Ian Player and the late Killie Campbell gave him considerable help. He made two extensive tours through Zululand. His book appeared in Britain in 1960 and received acclaim for its scholarship, encyclopaedic information, range, and narrative style. Indeed, South Africans will always remain puzzled that an American could write so well-documented a book about the Zulus and the 1879 war. But it must be remembered that it was almost exclusively to Britain that the early settlers and soldiers sent back the best descriptions of the colony in their personal correspondence, and Mr Morris (then stationed on the Continent) was able to spend more time in Britain than in Africa. We publish elsewhere a newspaper picture of Mr Morris taken during his brief visit. Professor G. Nienaber Professor C. de B. Webb Dr. S. Marks Donald R. (Photo: The Daily News) The late Miss U. E. M. Judd Chief Librarian of the Natal Society 1950-74 (Photo: The Daily News) 9 Ursula Evelyn Mabel Judd (1917-1976) - a Tribute On the 4th January 1976 Ursula E. M. Judd, Chief Librarian and Secretary of the Natal Society Library, passed away. She had been appointed to the post in September 1950 and held it for 24 years with outstanding success. From 1974 until her death she was employed by Messrs. Shuter and Shooter, publishers and booksellers. During her 24 years' service she saw the Natal Society Library grow from a subscription library serving only a minority of the White population of Pietermaritzburg to a dynamic free lending library serving all race groups. Soon after her arrival Miss Judd set about the considerable task of reorganising the book stock, setting about this with the energy which was to mark her service throughout. The task involved the complete re-cataloguing, reclassifying, and overhauling, of some 60 000 lending library books in order to maintain a live collection. She approved of the construction of the actual premises (built 1930) which were 'neither unsuitable nor unpleasing' and noted the soundness of the basic book stock but felt that a modernisation of the entire library was necessary, despite the shortage of funds. 1 COPYRIGHT One of her most important contributions to the Natal Society, was the creation of the Reference and Copyright Department. The Copyright Act of 1916 gave the Natal Society 'legal deposit' privileges but before Miss Judd's arrival little attempt was made to collect or preserve this material, as much of it was discarded through lack of space. In 1953 the Members' Room was converted into the new Reference department and a librarian and staff were appointed. This development was an important landmark in the history of the Natal Society. It was now not only possible to offer proper reference library facilities, but to organize and preserve the copyright material and many valuable works in stock, and also to pursue relentlessly all copyright publications prior to 1951, in an endeavour to replace discarded material. An efficient classified catalogue, now one of the best in the country, was begun at this stage. Through Miss Judd's awareness of the Pietermaritzburg public's needs, and the co-operation of a sympathetic library Council, other developments were soon under way. In March 1958 the Market Square Branch opened its doors to Non-white users, with a book stock of 6000 volumes. This was the first free library service. In 1954, on the occasion of the official opening of the new entrance in Longmarket Street, Miss Judd's hard work was commended by an appreciative Library Council. The then President, the late J. W. Hudson, wrote in a letter dated 27.11.54: 10 Obituary I would like you to know how much I congratulate you personally on the culmination of your fine efforts for the library. It was a fortunate day for the Council when it engaged you as Librarian. I hope you will feel that the work has been worth while and that you will want to stay with the Society for many more years. 'By their deeds shall we know them.' These improvements at the Library might well be known as the 'Judd developments'. A FREE LIBRARY These words were indeed prophetic. Miss Judd's untiring efforts, together with the support of a sympathetic Library Council, came to fruition on the occasion of the opening of the new library building on 17th June 1975. In 1967 the library had become free to all residents or workers in the city. This new library building now opened its doors to all races, offering a free service comparable to any in South Africa. In June 1974, however, Miss Judd resigned. Sadly she was never to see over the new completed library building on Churchill Square but it may well stand as a memorial, incorporating as it does so many features specifically planned by her. In recognition of her service to the Natal Society the third floor of the new building was named the Judd Floor. Miss Judd's early career was interesting. She obtained the University of London School of Librarianship Diploma in 1941, and in 1942, became a Fellow of the Library Association of England. Her first posts were in public libraries, as library assistant. After qualifying, she worked for the Westminster Public Libraries in London. Her ability was such that she was put in charge of the Buckingham Palace Road Library immediately after the premises had suffered serious air raid damage. The Chief Librarian of this complex of libraries was the well-known librarian and author of standard works on librarianship, Lione1 R. McColvin. In a letter dated 30.8.45, he had this to say: ... she possesses great adaptability, initiative and a fine sense of responsibility. FINLAND, JAMAICA, NIGERIA In 1948 she joined the British Council on the condition that she serve anywhere in the world as directed by their head office. Her first post was Helsinki. Finland; three months later she was appointed to the post of Assistant Director of the newly formed Jamaica Library Service, a scheme to provide library facilities for the whole island and a post which involved new and interesting pioneer work. Her duties included numerous talks and broadcasts of a literary nature. In 1949 she accepted a post as head of the British Council Books Department and Chief Librarian of the Lagos Public Library in Algeria. The following year, equipped with considerable organisational ability and experience, she took up the post at the Natal Society Library to which she was to devote the rest of her professional career. 1. JUDD, U. The Reorganization of the Natal Society Library, 1950-1954. In: South African Libraries, Vol. 22, No. 2, p. 63. 11 Obituary Her competence and integrity won her a respected place in the library world. She was an active member of the South African Library Association. From 1952-1955 she was chairman of SALA, Natal Branch, and served on the council of the Library Association for a number of years. She was nominated vice-president of SALA three times. In 1974 she accepted an invitation to serve on the Censorship board, and with the true librarian's insistence on objectivity of judgement, she filled the post admirably. From 1971 she served on the editorial board of Natalia, and as hon. secretary until she resigned her post as Chief Librarian. She worked tirelessly to help ensure the success of each edition. Miss Judd's interests were varied and she was active in many circles. She was a member of the now defunct Liberal Party and a Foundation member of the Black Sash and in 1975 was made an honorary member. She served on St Saviour's Cathedral Parish from 1971-1974. In 1975 she served on the book review panel of the Natal Witness. Her hobbies included golf and philately and her interest in history was reflected in her considerable private collection of books and documents. She was considering writing a work on notable Natalians. HER LOYAL STAFF Miss Judd's qualities evoked an unusual degree of loyalty in her staff, particularly those who had been with her for many years. She will be remembered with affection by many of her colleagues. At the time of her death, one former staff member now working in Johannesburg wrote: ... for myself, she taught me an attitude to work that will never change, an integrity and responsibility that I am glad she was there to teach. In her conclusion to an introductory talk at a symposium held by the Natal branch of the South African Library Association in 1954, she made some remarks which have a strangely prophetic ring: Some of us have more to give than others both in our jobs and as members of the branch. One can only work to the best of one's capacity, and this may not be very large. One may seldom be singled out and congratulated; but if one's purpose is sufficiently sustained, one does not need a lot of praise. For my part, I would be happy to have said of me, like the woman in St Mark's gospel, 'She hath done what she could: JENNIFER WHITELAW JUNE FARRER 12 Colenso's Greatest Sermon Ninety-seven years ago on a Wednesday morning of March crowds of men and women dressed in mourning black filed along the streets of Pietermaritzburg towards the cathedral church of St Peter's. Not only in the capital but throughout Natal, all shops and places of business were closed as a result of a proclamation by the Governor, Sir Henry Bulwer, that this particular weekday should be observed as a 'Day of Humiliation and Prayer, in consequence of the great Disaster at Isandhlwana, on January 22nd, 1879'. In scores of churches the preachers delivered solemn addresses in which they referred to the tragic deaths in battle of young Natalians and Imperial troops. Of the 150 European volunteers who died at Isandhlwana eighty of the dead were Natalians and thirty of them - officers and men of the Natal Carbineers, Newcastle Mounted Rifles, and other colonial units - were members of the best families in the colony. So many a heart turned over and many an eye filled with sudden tears as parents, wives, and sweethearts sitting in the pews thought of the unburied dead still scattered round that Zululand hill. It was an emotional day throughout the colony, a day on which the majority of the officiating clergymen did not attempt anything more than a pious memorial service for the young men lost. One clergyman, however, was to be different - the Right Reverend J. W. Colenso, D.D., Bishop of Natal - and it was to hear the service in his own church that the worshippers were making their way along the Pictermaritzburg streets. The sermon which he delivered - printed by P. Davis & Son, Longmarket Street, that same year - was long remembered by the congregation. The copy which I have, yellow with age and stained in places, runs to 15 pages, in all about 5 000 words. It is a brilliant example of Colenso's pulpit style - logical and well-arranged, with an infrastructure of aggressive argument and illustration that still gives it the power not simply to hold attention but almost to compel it. Although only seven weeks had elapsed since the battle Colenso spoke hardly one word of comfort to those bereaved and for some of his listeners the pangs of sorrow must quickly have been replaced by feelings of indignation. As for the 'my-country-right-or-wrong' types seated in front of him, he had nothing but harsh words: 'vainglorious ... reckless ... ready to triumph boastfully .. .' To speak in this style to a congregation bereaved, saddened, and apprehensive of worse disasters to come was a very chancy thing. Donald Morris, author of The Washing of the Spears, considers that Colenso's sermon on this occasion was 'perhaps the bravest act of a courageous lifetime .. .' He entitled the sermon 'What doth the Lord require of us?' His text came from Micah vi., 8: 'He hatlz shewed thee, 0 man, what is good! And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to walk humbly with thy God?' In a short introduction he said that he responded most heartily to the call of the 13 Colenso's Greatest Sermon Governor who, he doubted not, himself felt deeply a sense of those sins which as a people all had committed. The people of Natal had been rash and hasty in giving public approval - or at all events silent consent and encouragement - to many things which they had half-suspected or even felt in their heart of hearts to be wrong. These things were at variance with the eternal laws of truth and righteousness, with their Christian profession, and with their character and reputation as Englishmen: It is of no use merely to lift up our hands - to make vague professions of penitence, if we do not amend our doings - to keep a day of humiliation and prayer, if it leaves us as thoughtless and headstrong, as regardless of the good, the true, and the just, as vain-glorious and self -confident, as reckless of blood-shedding and deeds of violence done in our name, as ready to triumph boastfully in acts of slaughter and plundering, ravaging and burning as before ... Then in words which must have rung defiantly through the little church, Colenso said: I am called this day as a minister of religion to take my part with you in this solemn service. And I will not prostitute my sacred office by speaking peace to you when there is no peace ... He then moved directly into the political field. No colonist had any doubt that what led to the Zulu war and thus to the late great disaster had been the annexation of the Transvaal by which, as the Boers complained, the British had come by stealth, deprived them of their rights, and taken possession of their land. The apparent agreement to this act had not come from the great body of old Dutch residents but chiefly from newly-arrived Englishmen. By this act of annexation, said Colenso, Britain inherited the quarrel between the Zulus and the Boers over the Disputed Territory, i.e. the land south of the Pongola, which the Boers claimed and which they encroached upon, despite increasing protests from the Zulus, who had asked for a strip of neutral country to be set between them and the Boers. Britain, as the dominant power, neglected a settlement of this question for fifteen years, during which time the Boers built farmhouses and little townships, eventually annexing the disputed land. Then in 1877 Sir Henry Bulwer, the then Governor, appointed a Boundary Commission which reported in favour of the Zulus' claim. But here again the British did 'unjustly'. In a special clause they reserved all private rights given under the Boer government, including land-grants. The result was that the Zulu king had no real possession over the land for occupation, grazing, or settlement. From these acts of injustice, claimed Colenso, this war had come. Then, referring again to his text, he asked the silent congregation: 'Wherein, in our invasion of Zululand, have we shown that we are men who love mercy?' Already 5 000 human beings had been killed and 10 000 cattle plundered: It is true that, in that dreadful disaster, on account of which we are this day humbling ourselves before God, we ourselves have lost very 14 Colenso's Greatest Sermon many precious lives, and widows and orphans, parents, brothers, sisters, friends, are mourning bitterly their sad bereavements ... Next, bending that accusatory eye of his on the listeners he asked: But are there no griefs - no relatives that mourn their dead - in Zululand? Have we not heard how the wail has gone up in all parts of the country for those who have bravely died - no gallant soldier, no generous colonist, will deny this - have bravely and nobly died in repelling the invader and fighting for their King and fatherland? As for the spirit of revenge: Shall we kill 10 000 more to avenge the losses of that dreadful day? Will that restore to us those we have lost? Will that endear their memories more to us? He had a word of castigation for the home government: Alas! that [a] great English statesman could find no nobler word, at such a time as this, than to speak of 'wiping out the stain', if he really meant that the stain on our name was to be 'wiped out' with the blood of a brave and loyal people, who had done us no harm, nor threatened to do us harm, before we invaded their land ... He concluded his sermon with the prophecy: If we will go on killing and plundering those who have never seriously harmed us, or threatened to harm us, until we made war upon them - treating his [Cetewayo's] message of peace with contempt and neglect, even with ridicule, ascribing it falsely to the promptings of men in our midst, judging unfairly and misrepresenting the Zulu king, both in the Colony and in words sent to England - if we will do these things - then indeed there will be reason to fear that some further great calamity may yet fall on us, and perhaps overwhelm us - by the assegai, famine, or pestilence - in what way we cannot tell, but so that we shall know the hand that smites us ... So ended that memorable address, long to be remembered by those fortunate enough to hear it. Many of his listeners were indignant, some were saddened, a number accepted the castigation, and a few were admiringly antagonistic, but whatever the reaction to his words, such was the overall effect exercised by Colenso's strong and sincere personality that he was heard through to the end in silence. JOHN CLARK 15 -bat botb tbe Jrorb require of us? ASERMON, PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. PETER'S, MARITZBURG, ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1879 (The day appointed by authority to be kept as a Day of Humiliation and Prayer, in consequence of the great Disaster at Isandhlwana, on January 22nd, 1879,) BY THE RIGHT REV. J. W. COLENSO, D.D., BISHOP OF NATAL P. DAVIS & SONS, LoNGMARKET STREET, PmTERMARITZBURG. 1879. 16 Wbat botb tbe lLorb require of us? He hath she wed thee, 0 man, what is good! And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?Micah vi., 8. This day has been appointed by him who rules in the Queen's name over us 'to be a day set apart for the purposes of prayer and humiliation'; and, as a 'minister of religion,' I have been specially 'invited' by him, with 'others, Her Majesty's loving subjects,' to 'join in observing the same accordingly.' Most heartily do I respond to the call of our Governor, who has spoken, I am sure, out of the fullness of his own heart. He has done, we believe, his utmost, as a Christian man, a lover of peace, a lover of justice, to prevent by wise and friendly measures this dreadful war. And we know also that his hopes have been disappointed, and all his efforts to settle the matters in dispute amicably and righteously, keeping good faith, the faith of Englishmen, even with a savage King and People, have been made in vain. And, I doubt not, he feels deeply himself what he calls upon us to express before God, a sense of those sins which, as a people, we have committed, and to the consciousness of which our late disaster has roused us-a sense of 'our manifold transgressions,' not in our private, but in our public, capacity. Truly, the 'great calamity which has befallen us as a Colony' has brought home these sins to us sharply, having filled many homes, both here and in England, with mourning and woe, and spread over us all a gloomy cloud of dread and anxiety, which, though for the moment lightened by the recent news from England, has by no means as yet been cleared away. It is true that our personal sins are doubtless the source of our public transgressions-that, if we had been more faithful and good, just and upright, God-fearing and God-remembering, more considerate for our brother's welfare as well as our own, in our private intercourse with one another, we should not have been so rash and hasty in giving our public approval from time to time-or, at all events, our silent assent and encouragement-to many things which we have half suspected, or even felt in our heart of hearts, to be wrong, to be at variance with the eternal laws of truth and righteousness, with our Christian profession, and with our character and reputation as Englishmen. But we are summoned here to-day by the voice of our Governor to humble ourselves before the Most High God, and confess, not our private sins, but our national and public faults and transgressions, the sins which we, as a People, and our rulers have committed, and on account of which, he implies, as do those who asked him to appoint this day, we have been so sorely smitten. It is as if he said to us 'Let us search and try our ways, Bishop Colenso 17 What doth the Lord require of us? and turn again to the Lord, let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.' Yes, indeed! 'let us lift up our heart!' It is of no use merely to lift up our hands-to make vague professions of penitence, if we do not amend our doings-to keep a day of humiliation and prayer, if it leaves us as thoughtless and headstrong, as regardless of the good, the true, and the just, as vainglorious and self-confident, as reckless of blood-shedding and deeds of violence done in our name, as ready to triumph boastfully in acts of slaughter and plundering, ravaging and burning, as before. I am called this day, as a 'minister of religion,' to take my part with you in this solemn service. And I will not prostitute my sacred office by speaking peace to you when there is no peace-by hiding the sins which we are bound to confess, and telling you of faults which are not the real burden that weighs us down. Rather, I will not dare to provoke the Most High God with such cowardly delinquency in duty. such base hypocrisy, in pretending to lead your prayers and your confessions, while yet, like Ananias, I keep back the substance of those confessions, 'lieing not unto men, but unto God.' Let us beware lest we 'agree together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord.' This day is indeed a day of great meaning, and, it may be, of grave results for us all. It will be a day of blessing for us if we use it rightly-'we, our kings, and princes, and priests, and prophets,' in other words, our rulers and governors, as well as ourselves-if we lay to heart the chastisement we have received and profess to feel, and set ourselves seriously to consider in the light of God, with the candle of the Lord, what faults we have committed in the past, and how we must act in the future, so as best to please Him who has called us to His Kingdom and Glory, and to the knowledge and the faith of Christians. But, if we have no such thoughts as these-we, our kings and princes and priests and prophets-if we come here merely to ask that 'God in His mercy may prevent any further serious disasters from coming upon us, and for success to our arms against the common enemy,' when we have not honestly confessed our sins nor resolved to amend our ways-then God be merciful to us sinners!-for verily our worship this day will have been in His sight a profane and impious mockery. Let us beware lest He say to us, as He did to His people of old by the mouth of Isaiah, 'Bring no more vain oblations! It is a grief to me, even the solemn meeting! When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear.' Let us beware lest of us it should be said 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.' For I tell you, brethren, that there is a Living God, 'a God of truth and without iniquity, Just and Right is He!' And, as we do believe in this Almighty Being, who searches the hearts and watches all the doings of the sons of men, let us remember that by this act of ours to-day we challenge Him to take account of us, we virtually swear 'So help us God, as we are sincere this day!'-and, if we are not sincere, we virtually pray that God's heavy judgment may fall upon us, that 'in His mercy' He may suffer to come upon. us, in some way or other, yet more serious calamities, and bring us to our senses by chastisement. 'Let us search, then, and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.' 'And what doth the Lord require of us, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God?' 18 What doth the Lord require of us? I. Have we then been 'doing justly' in the past? What colonist doubts that what has led directly to this Zulu war, and thus to the late great disastcr, has been the annexation of the Transvaal. by which, as the Boers complain, we came by stealth, 'as a thicf in the night,' and deprived them of their rights, and took possession of their land. We all know that, while the Secretary of State on April 23, 1877, was saying in his place in the House of Lords that 'as to the supposed threat of annexing the Transvaal, the language of the Special Commissioner had been greatly exaggerated,' it had already been annexed on April 12th, under authority issued months before by himself. No doubt, he had been beguiled by the semblance of great unanimity, of the general desire for annexation, among the Transvaal people; whereas the expression of such a desire, we know, came chiefly from Englishmen, most of them recent arrivals in the land, and not from the great body of old Dutch residents. He had also been, of course, very deeply impressed by the reports which had reached him about the state of the country. the weakness of the government, its empty exchequer, its failure in warlike measures against the natives, and the cruel outrages committed by individual Boers in some of those conflicts. But those outrages were reprobated by their own fellowcountrymen. And the friendly services, advice, and aid, which were at first supposed, and were, in fact, professed to be offered, might have done much to straighten what was crooked, and strengthen what was weak, in the machinery of government, and rectify the other evils complained of. And thus would have been laid at the same time the foundation of a deep and lasting friendship between the two white peoples, which before long would have resulted-if not in a willing Union, yet, at all events-in a happy Confederation under the British flag, an event to be desired by all when the time is ripe for it. But no! we could not wait; Confederation was desired at once; it was the idol of the hour. It would have been too long to look for it to be brought about, in the ordinary course of things, by those gradual, though sure, processes of change which nature loves. And so the deed was done, and we sent some of our officials to help in the work, and twenty-five of our Mounted Police, a small body indeed in appearance, but quite enough of armed force for the purpose in view, with a body of soldiers stationed within call on our northern frontier, and with the armies of England at their back; for we know full well, and the Boers knew, that, if one single shot had been fired in anger at that escort, the violent subjugation, and perhaps desolation, of their land would have surely and speedily followed. So we annexed the Transvaal, and that act brought with it as its Nemesis the Zulu difficulty, with respect to the territory disputed with the Boers. Have we 'done justly' here? I assume what is stated in the published Award that the three English Commissioners have reported their opinion that the land in question south of the identically what was claimed by the Zulus'--belongs of strict right to them, and not to the Boers. I assume that our Commissioners conscientiously discharged their duty in the matter, heard and considered carefully all the evidence produced on both sides, and produced in the presence of the representatives of both, an essential requisite in such an enquiry, and came to the deliberate conclusion that the Transvaal claim had not been sustained, and that the Zulu claim was justified. But how 19 What doth the Lord require of us? have we been acting all along in respect of this matter? From the year 1861, in which the Boer claim was first made, and in which also the Zulus first complained to this Government of Boer encroachments, sixteen years were allowed to pass before we took any effectual steps to settle the the Dominant Power in South Africa. During all that time, with one exception, we quietly looked on, allowing these alleged encroachments upon the land of those, who were looking up to us for justice, to grow and be established, as if they were acknowledged rights. while the Zulu King and People were sending to our Government continually their complaints and protests, as shown by offlcial documents. From year to year we allowed this question to smoulder on, the feelings of both peoples getting hotter and hotter, but we did not 'do justly,' as from our commanding position we were bound to have did not interfere in the interests of peace, and insist on settling equitably this difference between our white and black neighbours. And in 1876, the 15th year, our Secretary for Native Affairs reported as follows:-'This Government has for years past invariably and incessantly urged upon Cetshwayo the necessity for preserving the peace. and so far with great success. But messages from the Zulu King are becoming more frequent and more urgent, and the replies he receives seem to him to be both temporising and evasive.' In those fifteen years eighteen messages were sent by the Zulu King on this subject, the fourth of which, on July 5, 1869, nearly ten years ago, contained these words:'The Heads of the Zulu People have met in Council with their Chiefs, and unanimously resolved to appeal to the kind offices of the Government of Natal, to assist them to avert a state of things which otherwise appears inevitable. 'They beg the friendly intervention and arbitration of this Government between them and the Boer Government. 'They beg that the Lieutenant-Governor will send a Commission to confer with both sides, and decide. with the concurrence of the Zulus, what their future boundary shall be, and that this decision shall be definite and final as regards them. 'They beg that the Governor will take a strip of country, the length and breadth of which to be agreed upon between the Zulus and the Commissioners sent from Natal, so as to interfere in all its length between the Boers and the Zulus, and to be governed by the Colony of Natal, and form a portion of it, if thought desirable. 'The Zulu People earnestly pray that this arrangement may be carried out immediately; because they have been neighbours of Natal for so many years, separated only by a stream of water, and no question of boundary or other serious difficulty has arisen between them and the Government of Natal; they know that, where the boundary is fixed by agreement with the English, there it will remain. 'Panda, Cetshwayo, and all the Heads of the Zulu People assembled, directed us to urge in the most earnest manner upon the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal the prayer we have stated.' Our then Lieutenant-Governor, the late Mr. Keate-all honour be to his memory!-on the receipt of this request, promised to take steps in the matter, and did so. For two years and a half a correspondence was carried on with the Boer Government on the subject; arbitration was agreed to, Lieutenant20 What doth the Lord require of us? Governor Keate himself to be the arbitrator; the requisite papers were promised to be sent, the time for the arbitration was settled. But all came to nothing; the promised papers were never sent; the arbitration never took place; Lieutenant-Governor Keate's term of office came to an end in 1872; and on May 25, 1875, the Acting President issued a Proclamation annexing the land in dispute to the Transvaal! And thus this matter, which might have been settled easily in 1861, was allowed to grow into very serious importance. Farm-houses were built and small townships founded within the Disputed Territory; and we-the Dominant Power -did nothing to check these proceedings, which were certain to embarrass greatly any future attempt to settle the dispute. At last, our present Governor, with a true Englishman's sense of right and justice, took the matter in hand. and at the end of 1877 proposed, and in due time appointed, the Boundary Commission, which reported in favour of the Zulus. Did we even then 'do justly?' I must speak the truth this day before God, and honestly say that in my judgment we did not. Some time before the Commissioner's Report was made, the High Commissioner had said that we must be 'ready to defend ourselves against further aggression,' that 'the delay caused' by the Commission 'would have compensating advantages: that 'it appeared almost certain that serious complications must shortly arise with the Zulus, which will necessitate active operations'-when all the while the Zulus were only claiming, south of the Pongolo, land which has now been declared to be 'of strict right' their own, and, north of it, land east of the Drakensberg, which may as justly be their own, but respecting which no inquiry has yet been made. And we know that, before the Award was given, large bodies of troops had been collected on the frontier, our volunteers called out, our native levies raised; and that Award, which might have been the herald of peace, was converted, by the demands coupled with it, into a declaration of war. Nay, the Award itself was, in my judgment, stripped of almost all its value for the Zulus by a clause of the Memorandum, reserving under British guarantee all private rights acquired under the Boer Government, which had granted out in farms, it is said, the whole land in question, though it had no right to grant any of it. The Zulu King would have had no control over it; he would not have been able to send any of his people to live on it, or any of his cattle to graze on it, or even to assign places in it to any Zulus who might have elected to move from the Transvaal to the Zulu side of the boundary. 11. 'What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy?' Have we shown ourselves in the character of men who 'love mercy'? Truly it would have been a noble work to have used the power and influence of England for improving the social and moral condition of the Zulu people. Having first 'done justly' in respect of the Award, we should have had a vantage-ground from which much migQt have been done by peaceful means in this direction. A Resident might have been placed in Zululand, with the hearty consent of the King and People, who had asked more than once for such an officer to be appointed on the border. to keep the peace between them and the Boers. His presence would have had great effect in forwarding 21 What doth the Lord require of us? such changes in the Zulu system of government as we all desire, being known to be backed by the whole power of England, then mysterious, untried, and therefore more to be respected; and his influence would have had the additional weight of that traditionary reverence for the English nation, which has been handed down among the Zulus from Chaka's time. Such changes usually, as the High Commissioner has said, 'like all great revolutions, require time and patience.' But even if, instead of waiting for the gradual improvement of the people, as wise men would do, we determined to enforce them at once, there was a way of doing this which at one time indeed was talked of, as if it had been really contemplated, viz., by advancing into the country slowly and gradually, entrenching at short stages, neither killing people nor plundering cattle, but repeating our demand from time to time, showing thus that we had only the welfare of the Zulus ut heart, that we were Christian men, who loved justice and mercy, and only wished to bring about reforms which we knew to be good. Of course, if we took such a work in hand at all, we were bound not to heed any additional expenses such delay would entail, which, in point of fact, would have been as nothing to that which must now be incurred. The success, however, of such an experiment would, obviously, have greatly depended on our receiving daily the surrender of Chiefs and people in large numbers, wishing to shake off the yoke of the Zulu King and coming to seek our protection. And of such surrenders, so confidently expected at one time, we have seen as yet no sign whatever. J repeat the question, Wherein, in our invasion of Zululand, have we shown that we are men who 'love mercy'? Did we not lay upon the people heavily, from the very moment we crossed their border, the terrible scourge of war? Have we not killed already, it is said, 5000 human beings, and plundered 10000 head of cattle? It is true that, in that dreadful disaster, on account of which we are this day humbling ourselves before God, we ourselves have lost very many precious lives. and widows and orphans, parents, brothers, sisters, friends, are mourning bitterly their sad bereavements. But are there no griefs-no relatives that mourn their dead-in Zululand? Have we not heard how the wail has gone up in all parts of the country for those who have bravely died--no gallant soldier, no generous colonist, will deny thishave bravely and nobly died in repelling the invader and fighting for their King and fatherland? And shall we kill 10 000 more to avenge the losses of that dreadful day? Will that restore to us those we have lost? Will that endear their memories more to us? Will that please the spirits of any true men, true sons of God, among the dead? Above all, will that please God, who 'requires of us' that we 'do justly' and 'love mercy'? Will such vengeance be anything else but loathsome and abominable in His sight, a pandering to one of the basest passions of our nature, bringing us Chdstians below the level of the heathen with whom we fight? Alas! that great English statesman could find no nobler word. at such a time as this, than to speak of 'wiping out the stain,' if he really meant that the stain on our name was to be 'wiped out' with the blood of a brave and loyal people, who had done us no harm, nor threatened to do us harm, before we invaded their land,-if he did not rather mean that our faults in the past should now, when our hands are made strong again, be redeemed with acts of true greatness, acts worthy of Englishmen, acts of Divine power, the just and merciful actions of Christian men. 22 What doth the Lord require of us? Ill. 'What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?' Ah! 'to walk humbly with our God!' Our mother-country has wakened up at the cry of distress and terror which has reached her from Natal, when friends in England, and many here, were thinking but of a pleasant march, a military promenade, into Zululand. They are sending us vast reinforcements with all speed. To human eyes our power will be overwhelming, our victory triumphant and sure. But do we really believe in the Living God, who requires of us, if we would receive His blessing, 'to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him'? And have we left him out of our calculations, the Lord of the spirits of all flesh, to whom the Zulus belong, as well as the English? Let those, who will, bow down and worship their dumb idols, brute force, and proud prestige, and crafty po[,icy. But we believe, I trust, in the Living God, and, if so, then we are sure that, not His blessing, but His judgment, will rest on us, if we arc not just and merciful now, whatever we may have been in the past-now. when we have come into His Courts with a profession of sorrow for the wrongs we have done, and with prayer 'that no further disaster be allowed to befal us, and that peace may be speedily restored.' The Zulu King, it is well known, has sued at our hands for peace. It may be that he has done this, as some think, because his army has suffered much -because his counsels are divided-because he fears that some of his great chiefs will desert him-because he is laying some deep plot against us. But it may be, as I trust and believe, that he is sincere in his expressions of grief for the present war, and the slaughter at Isandhlwana. As far as I can read the obscure and evidently confused and incorrect reports of his message, which have appeared in the newspapers, he seems to say-'This war is all a dreadful mistake-a horrible nightmare! Is it possible that I am fighting with my English Father, with whom I have lived all along in unbroken friendly intercourse? I have no wish whatever to do so. My young men did wrong in crossing at Rorke's Drift; I ordered them not to cross, and, when I struck, I struck only in self-defence; and as before, in my own and my father's time, so ever since that bloody day, the Zulus have never invaded Natal. As Englishmen, speak the word that no more blood be shed; let the war be brought to an end; and give me only such terms as I and my people can accept.' I say that, with the very possibility of such feelings having impelled the Zulu King to send this message-and it closely agrees in tone with the last message which he sent before the Ultimatum was delivered-if we would 'walk humbly with God,' and put our trust in Him, and not in the god of force-we are bound to meet the Zulu King on the way, when he comes with a prayer for peace-to propose to him, from our higher and stronger position, such terms as it shall be within his power to accept-to show him that we Christians trust more in our strength Divine, as a just and merciful nation, than in mere military power-and. having done this, to leave the rest with God. But if, after this solemn day, we will not do this-we, our kings and princes and prophets and priests-will not do what the Lord requires of us, will not 'do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with our God'-if we 23 What doth the Lord require of us? will go on killing and plundering those who have never seriously harmed us, or threatened to harm us, until we made war upon them-treating his message of peace with contempt and neglect, even with ridicule, ascribing it falsely to the promptings of men in our midst, judging unfairly and misrepresenting the Zulu King, both in the Colony and in words sent to England -if we will do these things-then indeed there will be reason to fear that some further great calamity may yet fall on us, and perhaps overwhelm us -by the assegai, famine, or pestilence-in what way we cannot tell, but so that we shall know the hand that smites us. For 'Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord who exercise loving-kindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.' Printed by P. DAVIS & SONS, Longmarket Street, Maritzburg 24 Origins of the Natal Society CHAPTER 6 THE PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE MAY - JUNE, 1851 Two meetings of the provisional committee 1 of the Natal and East African Society took place. Fears about the size of the meeting proved groundless; seventeen of the forty-six nominated members attended the first meeting and twelve attended the second. Members attending the first meeting, held on 26 May at the Court house, were Henry Cloete (in the chair), D. Moodie, the Rev. James Archbell, the Rev. William Campbell, the Rev. R. Dickson, G. Macleroy, A. T. Caldecott, T. Robertson, D. B. Scott, J. Moreland, R. Moffat, J. P. Hoffman, one of the Zietsmans, Dr. Toohey, G. Robinson, Dr. Johnston and Dr. Torry. The meeting was informed that the Lieutenant-Governor had accepted the office of patron of the Society; also that John Bird had accepted office on the provisional committee but that C. Behrens, D. D. Buchanan and D. Marquard had declined. G. Robinson was requested to act as secretary for the provisional committee. The following constitution was drawn up: 1. The Society shall be called "The Natal Society" and its object shall be the development of the physical, commercial, agricultural, and other resources of Natal and Eastern Africa, including the general and natural history of the Colony. 2. All persons subscribing lOs or upwards annually to the funds of the Society shall be ordinary members thereof; but none shall be eligible for the Council who does not subscribe at least one guinea per annum. Donors of five guineas at one time, or of books or specimens of the value of ten pounds and upwards, shall be life-members of the Society, and shall be eligible for the Council. 3. The Society shall be under the management of a Council which shall consist of a Patron, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and seven other members, all of whom, with the exception of the Patron, shall be chosen annually by ballot. 4. Voting papers must be presented personally by the members, except in the case of persons who reside at a distance of at least three hours' ride, or twenty miles, from Pietermaritzburg, and such persons may send in their voting papers by another member, provided the papers be authenticated by the signature of the subscriber, and also specify in his own handwriting the names of the persons voted for. S. The Council shall meet at least once a month, and shall have power to frame bye laws, having effect until the next Annual or Special Meeting, which shall confirm or disallow them, in manner hereinafter provided. 1. Natal Society records, Vol. 1, pp. 9-16. 25 Natal Society History 6. In the event of parties elected to the Council declining to act, or in the event of vacancies occurring by death, resignation or otherwise, during the year, the persons next in number of votes on the ballot list for the year, shall be deemed to be chosen on the Council, and summoned accordingly. 7. His Honor the Lieut. Governor for the time being shall be requested to be Patron of the Society. 8. The property of the Society shall be vested in three Trustees, to be chosen by ballot at a General Meeting. They shall be removable only by non-SUbscription, non-residence in the district, insolvency, or by a vote of at least three-fourths of the subscribers present at a meeting specially called for that purpose. 9. The Trustees shall not have the authority to purchase any landed or other property (that power being solely vested in the Council for the time being) but are required to form a perfect inventory of all the effects of the Society and to present it at the annual general meeting of subscribers or whenever called upon by the Council. 10. The annual meeting of the Society shall be held on the third Tuesday of the month of June on each succeeding year, at which the accounts of the Society duly audited shall be presented; the Council for the ensuing year chosen, and the general business of the Society transacted. In the absence of the President and Vice-President any general meeting may choose a Chairman for the occasion. 11. Special meetings of the Society may be called at any time by the Council or by any ten members on giving at least fourteen days' notice, in some one of the public newspapers, stating the objects thereof; and no business shall be transacted at such special meetings unless so notified. 12. The means employed in prosecuting the objects of the Society shall be the collecting of authentic information, and the delivery of lectures or papers, on the physical capabilities of the district of Natal, and the parts bordering thereon, including their Geography, Zoology, Geology, Mineralogy and Botany; the peculiarities of climate and soil, with special reference to the purposes of Agriculture and Commerce; also the history, national characteristics, and social condition of the native tribes; together with opinions and suggestions as to the best practical methods of developing the varied resources of this portion of the African Continent, so as most effectually to promote the interests of Agriculture, Commerce and Civilization. 13. The Council shall have the power to publish the whole or any part of its proceedings as they shall deem fit. And the publication of all papers, being part of the proceedings of the Society, shall be under the entire direction and control of the Council. 14. A Library and Museum, illustrative of the objects of the Society, shall be formed as soon as practicable. 15. No alterations or additions shall be made to the Laws, except at an Annual or a Special General Meeting; notice of all such alterations or additions shall be included in the circular or advertisement calling the meeting; and the consent thereto of at least three-fourths of the subscribers present shall be indispensable. 26 Natal Society History This constitution caBs for one or two comments. It will be noticed that already 'The Natal and East African Society' has been shortened to 'The Natal Society'. The net, however, was not to be cast merely over Pietermaritzburg; arrangements were made (Rule 4) for the voting arrangements of persons residing three hours' ride away. Above all (in view of the way matters developed) it is interesting to note that the Library came at the end, almost as an afterthought, and then it was to be 'illustrative of the objects of the Society'. The Committee met again next day at the Court house," Henry Cloete taking the chair. The rules were carefully considered and amended, and it was then resolved that they be submitted to subscribers at a meeting to be held on 17 June. An interesting argument now enlivened the meeting; Dr. Johnston moved that a sub-committee be appointed to recommend for election at the General Meeting certain eligible office-bearers. However: The Rev. Dickson and A. Walker strongly objected to the proposal as virtually superseding the election by ballot already determined on; as infringing the liberty of choice by members generally, and as implying a reflection on their common sense and judgment. The Chairman emphatically expressed his concurrence in the objections made and pronounced the proposal to be not only injudicious and invidious but so contrary to the basis laid down by the public meeting of the 9th inst., that if it had met with a seconder he should still have felt it to be incompetent for him to put it to the vote. The idea was hurriedly dropped. The next resolution, however, had something of the same idea; editors were to be asked to publish the draft rules together with the list of subscribers. (This would obviate having people nominated who had not paid.) The meeting closed with a sub-committee formed to canvass subscriptions; nominated were Dickson, Archbell, Walker, Macleroy and Robinson. One absentee from the provisional committee meetings is notable. Where was J. M. Howell? He had moved a stirring resolution (the first) at the inaugural meeting, and was to be a tremendous live-wire once the Council started work. However, he was a man of wide interests and concerns. His name frequently appears in the papers, and at this period we have proof that he was worried by reports from the Cape of barbarous murders by Hottentots and Kafirs on the Eastern frontier. He was: prepared at an hour's notice, at my own expense, without any remuneration, and in the meanest capacity, to fight again the battles of my country. Say but the word and you will find me ready.3 The general meeting called for 17 June duly took place4 with Henry Cloete in the chair. The rules, with a few slight amendments, were approved unanimously. The next business for the meeting was the election of the officers, when some discussion took place as to whether the nomination of candidates would not be the more regular mode of procedure. The 2. Natal Society records, Vo!. 1, p. 15. 3. Natal Independent, 22.5.1851. 4. Natal Society records, Vo!. 1, p. 17. 27 Natal Society History discussion was conducted with some warmth, but finally terminated in the reading over of the list of subscribers eligible for office, from which everyone was at liberty to vote ... A ballot then took place, and the results were as follows; Cloete was elected president, Moodie was elected vice-president, and the treasurer was to be J. Archbell. The secretary was to be J. C. Toohey and the trustees elected were C. R. Sinclair, J. Archbell and J. P. Hoffman. The council members were the Rev. W. Campbell, R. Thomson, G. Macleroy, P. H. Zietsman, C. R. Sinclair, P. DUo, and J. M. Howell or A. Walker. Business then turned on offers of books. It was J. M. Howell who made the very first offer: fifty books to be presented as soon as the Society was ready to receive them. The Rev. Mr. Campbell then rose to say that Mr. Moffat would present fifty volumes on South Africa (a gesture he apparently later regretted). The Recorder said he parted from his books as from dear and valued friends, but after such munificence, he would also donate fifty volumes. The Chairman was gratified to see the interest His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor had taken in the welfare of the Society, and regarded it as a prelude to the able support that would be rendered to it by His Honor, both in his public and private capacity - especially in the granting of a suitable site for an appropriate edifice in which to conduct the Society's affairs. The meeting closed with votes of thanks to Mr. Robinson, which he acknowledged 'with great feeling', and to the Recorder. Needless to say, the last word rests with the likeable and industrious Archbell, but recently elected to two offices. In his Natal Independent for 19 June he writes: The formation of this Institution having been brought so far as now to be regarded as a consummated and perfected Society with ample machinery for promoting its objects, and liberal funds for accelerating its progress, its aspect may be viewed in its immense bearing upon the interests of Natal, as magnificently grand, and peculiarly propitious, and loudly and unmistakably announcing an onward movement, which must advantageously tell upon the varied sources of social happiness, and general welfare, or it will demonstrate that we are wanting in the performance of the duties we owe to the common weal of our adopted country. It has been suggested, and we perfectly concur in the view, that the union of the library establishment with this institution will be highly advantageous to both. Several truly spirited persons have signified their intention, should such union take place, to make to the society munificent presents of books, etc. This is right, and if we may record another advantage, it is that which will be derived from the union of this and the D'Urban Agricultural Society. The mutual benefits will be obvious to all. The 'library establishment' was indeed soon to be swallowed up, but the idea regarding union with Durban Agricultural Society never came to anything. U.E.M. JUDD 28 A Curiosity of Natal Settler Literature ' ... comfort and Natal have yet to form acquaintance .. .' -- Coventry, VIA TOR, p. 95-6. In a corner of the library of the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, there sits on a shelf a strange little book. Its title is Viator: A Poem of a Voyager's Leisure Hours, (London, 1854). The author was an English surgeon who had sailed to Natal aboard a 390-ton barque named Amazon in the year 1850. His name was John Coventry and he seems to have been a dashing young man. There were 46 adult passengers and 14 children, most of them 'unapproved' emigrants, i.e. not entitled to any Government land because they had not before leaving deposited the stipulated amounts of cash with the Colonial Land & Emigration Commissioners. Some of the passengers later became well-known Natal figures, e.g. David Slatter, John Meek, and George A. Cope, but a number of them saw no future in Natal and within a year or two had sailed for the Australian goldfIelds. Dr Coventry himself stayed only a short time in Natal before returning to England. The poem 'Viator' is not a work of great literary merit but simply a piece of minor narrative verse redeemed by vivacity, humour, and a dexterous style. It begins in pseudo-ballad vein: All in the Docks a gallant barque was moored; The Maranon 'twas easy to perceive: And outward bound too - by the stir on board; Her native country just about to leave To cross the boundless Atlantean sea, For the swart shores of arid Africa; A wandering wight had come on board that day Bynempt Viator - he right buoyantly Pacing the busy deck - ~ t r u n g forth a roundelay; A bad start, pedantic and pretentious, but in a short time the poem recovers and come down to earth with lists of articles that the emigrants were shipping to Natal. The list of items is valuable to historians because it gives an idea of what the emigrants imagined they would need in Natal: Wirehouses, awnings, tents, ploughshares, saddles, bridles, boxes, chairs, tables, 'fierce cut-throat bowie-blades', stilettos, spears, baking girdles, wooden ladles, silver spoons, cradles, guns, pistols, fowling-pieces, carbines, swords, ammunition, mosquito curtains, calico, cotton, rods and reels, lines, shark-tackle, clothes-props, pegs ... 29 Natal Settler Literature Next come the luxuries of the well-ta-do cabin passengers: Portraits by Beard, choice polkas, grand pianos, prime Havanas, eau de vie in kegs, malt beer in bottles and firkins, Devon cider ... Lastly, the foodstuffs: potted milk, tripe, pickled eggs, salt beef, bouilli, broths, soups, patent potatoes, bacon, flitch, gammon, dried haddock and cod, salmon, tea, coffee, sweets, fruits, marmalade, jellies, spices ... At Gravesend the ship anchors in the Thames to receive more passengers as well as some visitors. Ladies are swung aboard from a small boat by means of a 'nautical armchair' suspended from a sling. The ship then weighs anchor for Falmouth where the last contact with old England is made - the author and his friends go ashore for a final meal at Dingley's - and then the ship sets off on its ocean voyage. Twenty-five days later the Maranon enters tropical waters and Viator, at the taffrail one day, sees his first shark following in the wake: With serrate teeth full armed, his horrid jaw Displayed he fearfully as he swam askew: His squalid carcase spreads a changeful tinge Throughout the wave - as he ascends or falls; Now grey, now brown, blue, green his trunk; his fins Glimmer livid yellow as he sprawls. But now th'alarm has spread -loud grow the calls. The crew bait a huge hook which transfixes him in the jaw so that after a struggle he is hoisted aboard and hacked to death - 'Embowelled through, beheaded and betailed ...' It is the standard incident of the emigrant ship diaries. At the end of the sixth week of the voyage the ship crosses the Equator, an event which causes Viator to think deeply of the old world he has left: ... yon thick, fleecy sky Of the north hemisphere, may well pourtray Struggles of ardent souls - who vainly try To burst the cerement clouds of dark obscurity ... However, his youthful optimistic spirit looks forward to his destination, the auspicious East, 'The land of promise. hope. expectancy .. .' He even forgets the ever-present danger of sailing by wooden ship - 'Your mortal life depending on a plank.' In the long good weather days that follow he notes the myriad creatures of sea and air - the suckerfish clamped to the shark's skin, the boobyl bird flapping 'his slouchy wings', the sea-swallow alighting on the rattlins, the flying fish with 'his curious piscine wing'. and the bonito 'in hue and shape a tropic mackerel.' At last having left the doldrums behind them, they reach Natal and exchange signals with the flag station on the Bluff. The return message is that a storm is on the way and that the ship must make out to sea. Viator blesses Marryae the sailor-novelist: 30 Natal Settler Literature To whose inestimable signal code This night our safety mainly was assigned ... All night the ship runs before the storm but in the morning it returns to Port Natal and takes aboard the port captain Bell and Archer the pilot. As the ship threads its way into the harbour, the passengers gaze on the wreck of the emigrant ship British Tar3 lying on the beach. On the bar itself their own ship suffers some 'odd scrapes and delves' but no real difficulty since there is a depth of 14 feet of water and the Maranon draws only 11 feet. Once ashore at the Point they see their first black man and then climb into an ox-wagon for the two-mile journey to the town. D'Urban itself is a great disappointment: The one great feature from the point you land Until to dusty D'Urban you arrive, Is all summed up. in-sand! sand!! sand!!! sand!!!! Pity more varied phrase is not at our command ... Viator notes that the buildings, all of one storey, are scattered over the sandy plain. One of them, 'Mazeppa Cottage', has a galvanised iron roof. Of the hotelkeeper of the town, Hugh McDonald, he speaks well 'A better heart ne'er beat 'bove Scottish kilt.' The author looks with interest on the black man: The Natal Kafir has our sympathy,To 'Baas' or 'Master' simply looking forth For the two facts of his rude dictionary, His 'skof' or food, and 'sabenza' or work. As for the white men at D'Urban in 1850, Viator regards them with displeasure. To him they seem a degenerate society. Viator and his friends obtain horses and ride to the newly-established Wesleyan settlement of Verulam4 about 30km north of Durban. There they observe fields of tall mealies and crops of indigo, fig, senna,5 castor, tamarind,S cotton, coffee, and capsicum. 7 The poet is moved to prophesy, though not quite successfully: Natal's grand source of future wealth and power, One plain perceives will be that yellow cotton flower ... Leaving Verulam, the party of horsemen arrive at Mount Moreland, the Byrne settlement a mile or two east of Verulam, where they climb the hill, then covered by bush, to view the prospect. The undulating land around, not yet cleared, has little value, says Viator, mainly because there is no bridge across the Umgeni.8 Consequently when the river comes down in flood the traveller runs the risk of being swept to his death if he tries to cross. The alternative is to endure up to two months' quarantine until the waters subside. Another hazard in wading across the Umgeni is the watchful alligator.9 This bridgeless river is therefore the reason for the lack of buyers of land situated beyond the Umgeni. Digressing a little at this point, the poet blames promoters like James Erasmus Methley, J. C. Christopher,' and Joseph Charles Byrne" for 31 Natal Settler Literature publishing over-enthusiastic accounts of the land of Natal. One might think from their books that Natal flowed with milk and honey instead of being a place of storms, floods, and hurricanes of driving sand, a region where vermin of all shapes and sizes flourish: A purgatory of flies - a paradise Of ticks, fleas, scorpions, spiders, centipedes, Cockroaches, pismires, beetles, and all lice ... As for Natal beef and mutton, also praised by Methley in his book The new colony of Port Natal (London, 1850), Viator maintains that one good English rumpsteak is worth all the meat in Natal: 'tis wretched stuff, rancid, rank, coarsest-grained ... Poultry, too, is inferior in the new colony: Your Natal fowl we manfully maintain About just equal to a tough blackbird ... But he returns to his subject, the party's visit to Verulam: Some thirty miles the Zulu land lies off Wallowing in fat and fierceness Panda there Dread relic of the fearful Dingaan stock! -Rages like some fierce tiger in his lair, His bloated body seamed and studded o'er With that fierce form of ulcer so well known By the much dreaded name of Natal sore ...12 After these rather superficial observations on Mpande (whom he had not seen) Viator returns with his friends to D'Urban. He does not seem to have travelled much inland for he admits that he has never visited Pietermaritzburg, though he has heard much about it: 'Tis quite a paradise say some, elysian Its site, and fair its dwellings, some aver ... The poem ends with his discovery that the schooner Douglas, a ship wellknown to him in England, is lying in the bay, ready to sail. He therefore makes arrangements to accompany the ship on its return voyage to England. His long narrative poem concludes with a five-verse L'Envoi to Natal: Adieu! ye streets of D'Urban sand! Ye swampy shores and rough! Adieu! thou would 'twere happy land! Adieu! thou blusterous bluff! Adieu! ye haunts where baseless hope Too oft deception rues! Where mourns full many a hapless dupe Of speculatists' views. But further comment here we cease, Fair let our parting be; Natal! we wish thee health, hope, peace, And more felicity!!! 32 Natal Settler Literature Dr Coventry returned to England and thereafter disappears from literary history. A well-read and intelligent young man, with a fund of energy and plenty of spending money, he should have done well for himself in his profession, but the biographical dictionaries are silent. Unknowingly, however, he achieved his niche in Natal history, mainly by arriving at the end of that dynamic year 1850 when some 2500 Byrne settlers were starting life afresh in a new and strange country. An observant man with a scientific bent, Coventry noted Natal's vegetation and its varied wild flowers, shrubs, and trees. He observed, too, crops like cotton, sugar, coffee, and indigo which the emigrants had planted experimentally in Durban and along the coast. He even cast an enquiring eye at the bright stars that adorned the Natal night-sky. As for the Port itself, he speaks of its defects - 'the extremely dangerous and uncertain entrance of its harbour,' with the depth on the bar in 1850 varying from 4 or 5 feet to 16 or 18 and no safe passage for vessels upwards of 300 tons. Other features of the colony mentioned were the dramatic thunderstorms that built up, especially towards the Zulu country, the absence of surface rivers, the abundance of poisonous reptiles, insects and vermin in general, the prevalence of the Natal sore and horse-sickness, and the misery caused to the inhabitants of Durban by sand blowing everywhere. He mentions also the expense of house-rents in Pietermaritzburg and Durban and the extreme dearness of the necessary provisions of life, for example, bread. Another standard complaint he noted among the settlers was the difficulty of obtaining and