Richard Cannon

“ In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service, and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose. ”

“ This illiberal policy afforded little stimulation to industry; the settlers became conspicuous for habits of indolence, and education being neglected, the manners of the colonists degenerated towards barbarism, united with a cruel propensity to tyrannise over the Hottentots, whose lands they had seized, and from whom they exacted labour without due compensation. A number of French Protestants found an asylum at the Cape, where they introduced the cultivation of the vine; but the colony did not flourish under the Dutch. ”

“ But can it be doubted that, in the beautiful and endless variety of Nature’s works, there exists a store of unfailing amusement and instruction, the pursuit of which is sure to form a profitable occupation for the general reader during many a leisure hour, and is also admirably calculated to supersede many of the recreations of the young, which are productive of no useful results? ”

“ In any attempt to influence the opinions and practice of others, it is expedient to prove the importance of them to society; to exhibit on a great scale the effects of exerting bad habits, prejudices, and ignorance ”

“ Although the Kafirs occupy a fertile territory, which is capable of great improvement, yet it is found, even at the present period, that the habits and propensities of the male population are more suited to depredation and warfare, than to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, the females being employed in all the offices of labour; their frequent incursions on the lands and property of the settlers on the British frontier ”

“ No cattle belonging to any inhabitant or farmer, are, upon any account, to be permitted to stray or graze, over to the Kafir territory; neither is any Kafir to be molested when within his own boundary, nor is any soldier, or other person, permitted to [20] cross the Great Fish River, except when tracing depredations, or in the pursuit of stolen property.
“It will be a primary object to capture any Kafirs trespassing within the limits of the colony, and his Lordship anxiously hopes that this may be effected without bloodshed. ”

“ The Kafirs are natives of Caffraria, Caffreland, or, more properly, “Kafirland,” from the Arabic word Kafir, which signifies “Unbeliever;” these people are a hardy and warlike race; they are armed with light spears, about seven feet in length, called assagais, of which each warrior carries six or eight, and a kind of club for close fighting, called a kerrie; the former they throw with great force and dexterity, seldom missing an object at a less distance than sixty paces. ”

“ Van Riebeck was furnished with power to establish a colony, of which he was appointed governor, and three ships, provided with all that was necessary, were placed under his orders. On his arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, the natives surrendered the Cape Peninsula by treaty, with the two bays that are divided by the isthmus, and he erected a square fort, also warehouses, and raised outworks and batteries. Encouragement being given, numbers of settlers arrived from time to time, and, by presents and promises, a larger tract of land was procured ”

“ It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen,—our brothers,—our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public. ”

“ The men are, for the most part, tall, muscular, robust, and very active, and from the difficult, and almost inaccessible nature of the country in which the troops have to act against them, are far from being a despicable enemy: they have of late years obtained guns and an abundance of horses; they seldom make an attack in the open field, but select, with much judgment, the most rugged and rocky ravines, and the densest thickets, for their onset. ”

“ In this extensive territory, forming, as it were, a succession of terraces rising above each other, much barren land exists, interspersed with many spots of extreme fertility, producing, in their wild state, plants and flowers distinguished by the elegance of their forms and colours. The colony is capable of much improvement, and of maintaining a much larger population than that by which it is occupied. The principal of the rural occupants are wine-growers, corn-farmers and graziers ”

“ The corn-farmers reside, generally, a few days’ journey from the Cape, and the fertility of the soil enables them to reap good crops of wheat, barley, rye, maize, peas, beans, and on some occasions they bring quantities of aloes to the Cape, for which they obtain a good price. The graziers occupy the more remote districts of the colony, and have large flocks of sheep, some of them remarkable for immense tails ”

“ They are patient of hunger and fatigue; and traverse immense distances in an incredibly short space of time, and the features of the country being favourable to their mode of warfare, military combination is rendered extremely difficult; the greatest caution and steadiness are, therefore, requisite in troops employed in any operation, in order to guard against a surprise from so wily and active a people, who are watchful of every opportunity to pounce upon any detachment which may appear to be unsupported, or neglectful of the necessary precautions against surprise. ”

“ In duly estimating the importance of critical and philological research, and in clearing away some of the obscurities of the Scriptures, the Editor considers the Bible, in its structure, spirit, and character, to be essentially an Eastern book. The natural phenomena, and moral condition of the East, should therefore be made largely tributary to its elucidation. For this important purpose, the Editor draws largely from those rich and abundant stores unfolded by the spirit of modern enterprise. ”

“ Fruits of various kinds are produced on the west coast of the colony in as great perfection as in any part of the globe. The Hottentots are the chief labourers of the colony, and are a patient submissive race; when trained as soldiers they prove an useful and efficient class of men.
Extensive measures have been adopted to diffuse the advantages of civilization, and the blessings of Christianity among the tribes of this part of Africa ”

“ In the year 1820, a number of settlers arrived from Great Britain, and were located about Graham’s Town, and in the fine grass country to the south-west of the Fish River. From this period much improvement was produced in the character of the Colony by the exertions and industrious habits of the new settlers. ”

“ The advantages resulting from the friendly relations thus established, were followed by the reduction of the regiment to two hundred men, under Major Fraser, who assumed the command of the frontier in October of that year. The hostile clans continuing to make depredations, patroles were out night and day, and on the 10th of October three men of the Cape Regiment, the signal men at Waay Plaats, who were returning from the Cowie Bush, were waylaid and murdered by the Kafirs in a manner which evinced a most barbarous and cruel disposition. ”

“ Soon afterwards the burgher militia and Hottentot soldiers, who occupied the hills, fired on the British patroles, and hostilities were thus commenced. The Dutch occupied a fortified position on the rocks of Muisenberg, from whence they were driven, on the 7th of August, by the fire of the English ships and the advance of the troops, and two battalions of seamen; on this occasion the advance-guard of the Seventy-eighth regiment drove the enemy from a rocky ridge with great gallantry. ”

“ Hence the importance of an active and well-disciplined body of troops on the frontier, in which the confidence of the Government can be placed, and which are prepared, on every occasion, to defend the property of the settlers, and to follow up any acts of aggression on the part of their predatory neighbours. ”

“ The Editor most anxiously avoids that spirit of error which has, unhappily, too much prevailed of late on the Continent, and which, by arrogating to itself the claims of superior sagacity and learning, has sought to reduce everything in the Sacred Volume to the level of its own limited views and narrow conceptions, denying or explaining away the miracles, and seeking thereby to lower our reverence for the word of God, and for divine things in general. ”

“ Admiral Rio d’Infanté landed there in 1498, and fixing upon the mouth of a river for the site of a settlement, recommended his countrymen to establish a colony there; his advice was, however, not followed, and other Portuguese navigators failed in some [5] slight attempts which they made to colonize this interesting part of Africa.
The Cape forms one of the great landmarks of the globe, separating the Atlantic from the Indian Ocean, and dividing the voyage to Hindoostan into two nearly equal portions ”

“ In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the [vii] country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,—on their sufferings,—and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved. ”

“ In March two lines of posts were directed to be established along the frontier, and the first line, commencing at Upper Kafir Drift and extending up the Fish River as far as Roode Wall, was occupied by the Cape Regiment; at the same time the following orders were issued for its guidance by authority and direction of Lieutenant-General Lord Charles Henry Somerset, then Governor of the Colony.
“It is to be clearly understood that no provocation is to be given to the Kafirs in their own territory. ”

“ July and August, 1828, to repel the attacks of a horde of savages, who had driven the border Kafirs into the colony. Lieut.-Colonel Somerset advanced as far as the Umtata River, and on the 28th of August the Cape Mounted Riflemen were engaged with a very superior force of the invading tribes, and after a severe action from day-break until mid-day, the savages retreated, leaving many women and children, and much cattle behind them. ”

“ The design of the present work, therefore, is to place within the reach of families, and of persons unaccustomed to playing from score, really good practical music; classical, yet not laboriously and uselessly learned ”

“ These disputes led to bloodshed, and were followed, in 1834, by a [25] simultaneous attack of the Kafirs upon the colony at all points. On this occasion the Cape Corps had three provisional companies of mounted men attached to it, and having taken the field, it was almost constantly engaged in detached parties with the invaders. It penetrated into Kafirland, and was employed in the most active and arduous services under Lieut.-Colonel Somerset, and Major Burney, for many months. ”

“ Thus the general, and especially the youthful reader will be furnished, in these volumes, with a knowledge, sufficient for his purpose, of what as Englishmen we owe to the National Church, and to those gifted and energetic minds who have zealously laboured in her service for the honour of God and the good of mankind ”

“ After returning from this enterprise, the Riflemen resumed their duties along the frontier; the depredations of the Kafirs were continued, and in the years 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, and 1834, the patroles of the corps recaptured six thousand two hundred and ten head of cattle, and three hundred and thirty-four horses, which had been stolen from the colonists.
Disputes frequently arose when the military were searching for lost property ”

“ Designed for the use of Students of the Universities, and for Students of
Engineering generally.
By R. WILLIS, M.A., F.R.S., Jacksonian Professor of Natural and
Experimental Philosophy in the University of Cambridge. ”