Port Natal

“ Captain Bell, belonging to the port, and Captain Wilson of the Point, the landing agents, and other authorities, had fires lit, and did what they could, but there was no lifeboat, and save myself and Hesketh, brig and crew went to Davy Jones’s locker, stock and block.”
“I can easily conceive your antipathy to an anchorage at Port Natal during a gale of wind,” remarked his hearer.
“If our jury masts only hold, and the gale don’t increase, we shall do very well; and now I’m for deck, and I would advise Dona Isabel to turn in. ”

“ G. M. Rudolph, when giving evidence before the last Native Affairs Commission, stated that he did not think there were more than three thousand natives (i.e. Bantu) in Natal when he as a boy nine years of age went there with the first voortrekkers. A party of farmers, one of whom was Pieter Lavras Uys, travelled through Kaffraria in 1834 with fourteen waggons to Port Natal, and after thoroughly inspecting the uplands as well as the coast belt and the harbour, returned to the Cape Colony highly satisfied with the country as a desirable locality to migrate to.
Betshuana Refugees. ”

“ Natal is the starting-point of the Natal and Nova Cruz railway, and is a port of call for coastwise steamers, which usually anchor outside the bar. It is a stagnant, poorly built town of one-storeyed houses and mud walled cabins, with few public edifices and business houses of a better type. The only industry of note is the manufacture of cotton. The exports are chiefly sugar and cotton. Natal was founded in 1597 as a military post to check an illicit trade in Brazil-wood. ”

“ I cannot but think, if it were practicable for a few thousands, or even hundreds, of your West Coast men to come round to the East Coast, that is, to Port Natal, an immense amount of good would be derived therefrom; not only in assisting to abolish the barbarous customs of our natives in showing them that labor is honorable for man, but that the English population would appreciate their services and that they would be able to get good wages. What we want is constant and reliable laborers; not those who come by fits and starts, just to work for a month and then be off. ”

“ The coast line, from the mouth of the Kunene on the west to the delta of the Zambezi on the east, is little indented and contains only two sheltered natural harbours of any size—Saldanha Bay on the west and Delagoa Bay on the east. At Port Natal, however, the removal of the sand bar at its entrance has made available a third magnificent harbour, while at Table Bay (Cape Town) and at other places ports have been constructed. South Africa presents, however, a solid land mass without peninsulas of any size or any large islands off its coasts. ”

“ Each man looked in doubt and wonder upon his opponent’s face. Then the captain’s voice was once more heard,—
“Throw down your arms, you mutinous dogs, and yield yourselves prisoners, or every man among you shall swing at the yard-arm before another hour has passed!”
Chapter Six. About a week had elapsed. George and Redgy were standing on the deck of the Government steamer Wasp, leaning over the bulwarks and contemplating the appearance of the harbour of Port Natal; which lay immediately in front of them, with the town of Durban in the middle distance, and the Natal country in the background. ”

“ Some forty Englishmen had settled on the shore of the inlet called Port Natal, where they made a living chiefly by hunting elephants and buffaloes and trading with the Zulu chief for ivory. Some of them were living more like barbarians than civilised men, and were the only acknowledged heads or chiefs of little bands of fugitives from Zululand, who placed themselves under the white men’s guidance and protection. ”

“ Though the water on the bar is only 14 feet at low tide, Natal is the first port of any note to the south of Cape Roque, and trades in cotton, sugar, dye-wood, and other local produce. It was founded in 1597. The population is about 11,000. ”

“ All the roads of the colony, excepting a line of 93 miles belonging to the Cape Copper Mining Company, are operated by the colonial government. Their net revenue in 1886 was 2.84 per cent. of the capital actually invested.
Port Natal built her first railroad in 1860. It was only two miles long and extended from the city of Durban to its harbor. Since then several inland lines, aggregating over four hundred miles, have been constructed at a cost of twenty-two million dollars. The roads are operated by the colonial government and yielded in 1891 a net revenue of 4.4 per cent. ”

“ This had been followed by an intimation from the governor of the Cape (Major-General Sir George Napier) inviting the emigrants to return to the colony, and stating that whenever he thought it desirable he should take military possession of the port. In sanctioning the occupation of the port the British government of the day had no intention of making Natal a British colony, but wished to prevent the Boers establishing an independent republic upon the coast with a harbour through which access to the interior could be gained. ”

“ So far as Barberton and the Kaap gold fields are concerned, Delagoa Bay must be their port of the future, even in spite of the frantic efforts Natal is now making. It is only necessary to consider for a single moment the mileage from the different ports to see this. Whereas the distance from Delagoa Bay is, roughly speaking, only 130 miles, that from D’Urban, the Port of Natal, is 450, and that from Capetown about 1,300. The ad valorem duty at these ports also contrasts very unfavorably with the Portuguese port—Capetown collecting 15, Natal 7, while Delagoa Bay collects 3 per cent. ”

“ Dingaan then produced a paper which had been written by the Reverend Mr. Owen. This document, which I believe still exists, for it was found afterwards, was drawn up in legal or semi-legal form, beginning like a proclamation, “Know all men.”
It ceded “the place called Port Natal, together with all the land annexed—that is to say, from Tugela to the Umzimvubu River westward, and from the sea to the north”—to the Boers, “for their everlasting property.” At the king’s request, as the deed was written in English by Mr. ”

“ Much has been written of the beauties of Natal, with its shores washed by the Indian Ocean, its rich soil, luxuriant vegetation and noble forests. When Pieter Retief first saw it from the Drakensberg Mountains, it was under the despotic rule of the Zulu chief Dingaan, who had succeeded Tshaka, the "Napoleon of Africa," the slayer of a million human beings. A few Englishmen, who were allowed to live at the port, gladly welcomed the emigrants, and took them to Dingaan's capital, called Umkungunhloon, acting as guides and interpreters. ”

“ On reaching Port Elizabeth, that enterprising city of Cape Colony, Dr Fox proceeded immediately to the long jetty, built well out into the sea, and there boarded a tug that lay alongside, and was soon steaming out to the “Arab,” riding at anchor in Algoa Bay.
Many passengers were aboard, a number having come from Natal, and their faces expressed satisfaction at the prospect of a visit home to England. ”

“ If we are going to Natal we must cross the Indian Ocean, and I don’t want to venture near the Mauritius with a leaky 77vessel. It blows too hard there sometimes. We have been driven a long way out of our course, and if my calculations are correct, our nearest port is Hobart Town. We’ll go there, and while the vessel is being refitted we’ll take a run back into the country and see how the sheep and cattle herders live. ”

“ Port Elizabeth (Algoa Bay) which is generally known as the "Liverpool" of South Africa, is the chief seaport of the Eastern Province, its trade being steadily increased by the development of the Transvaal Gold Fields, and the growth of the interior towns of the Cape Colony. It is a thriving business town. Its inhabitants, like those of Natal, are thoroughly energetic and active in the pursuit of their various mercantile avocations, and number about 12,000, a large proportion being Europeans. ”

“ The Natalians certainly deserve the greatest credit for the way in which they carry on the business and manage the public affairs of their prosperous, and thriving town, which has a population of 17,000, of whom about 9,000 are Europeans. Recent commercial returns show that the trade of Natal, of which Durban, as the seaport town, is the centre, is rapidly increasing. ”

“ The Natal people have the matter now entirely in their own hands; and I have so great confidence in their energy, that I feel assured that steamers will be running, before two years are over, between Natal and Aden, calling at Iniack Island (in Delagoa Bay) , the mouths of the Zambesi, Mozambique, Zanzibar, and one of the outlets for the commerce of North Eastern Africa; throwing a brilliant ray of light to illumine the darkness of East Ethiopia; an advancement in civilization which the world will owe to the energy of the young and enterprising British Colony of Natal. ”

“ It is necessary to make the voyage by sea, for, although Natal touches the Cape Colony along the boundary line of one hundred and fifty miles or more, there is little or no regular land communication, the Cape districts adjacent to Natal being still peopled by natives as yet but little removed from barbarism. There is no highway from one colony to the other, and communication is almost entirely by sea. ”

“ Various attempts have been made to establish trade between Natal and Delagoa Bay; and it is openly stated by the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay, that more Englishmen have perished in these attempts from the poisoned cup than from the deleterious climate. In England people may be startled at this statement, but the Natal people will be only too glad to hear that such a statement has gone forth to the world, as it may call for a searching inquiry into the fate of those who have perished, and give some hope that property, belonging to British subjects, now lying there, may be restored. ”

“ Her master, Theunis van der Schelling, had visited Natal when he was mate of the Noord in 1689 and 1690, and therefore knew the harbour. He was instructed to make a thorough exploration of the forests, and to frame a chart of the coast. A sailor who was expert in drawing pictures was sent to take sketches of the scenery.{202}
The Postlooper sailed from Table Bay on the 20th of November 1705. She reached Natal on the 29th of December, and found the bar so silted up that she could only cross at high water. There were not so many cattle in the neighbourhood as there had been sixteen years before. ”

“ In 1721 the Cape government did form a settlement at the bay, but it was soon afterwards abandoned. Thereafter for nearly a hundred years Natal was again neglected by white men. A ship now and again put into the bay, but the dangerous bar at its entrance militated against its frequent use. When in 1824 the next attempt was made by Europeans to form a settlement at the bay, Cape Colony had passed from the Dutch into the possession of Great Britain, while in Natal great changes had come over the land as a result of wars between the natives. ”

“ The country is too poor, and with very little chance of its ever becoming richer, with such a lack of energy for advancing in civilisation as is in the Boer character.
The British colony of Natal is situated on the coast, and joins on to the Cape Colony at its extreme eastern boundary, called Kaffirland proper, and Griqualand East as also Basutoland. To the north it joins up to the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, the Drakensberg mountain dividing it from them. On the eastern side, Zululand is separated from it by the Tugela and the Buffalo rivers. It has a coast-line of 150 miles. ”

“ Nearly the whole of Natal may be counted temperate; the soil is rich, the scenery is beautiful, and, with the exception of certain malarious districts at the north, the climate is healthful. Foreigners from Europe and America may reasonably hope to enjoy long life and prosperity in it. The principal crop for export is sugar, but cereals of all kinds, coffee, indigo, arrowroot, ginger, tobacco, rice, pepper, cotton and tea are grown to profit. The coal fields of the colony are large, the output in 1897 being 244,000 tons. There are 487 miles of railway, built and operated by the government. ”

“ Held quarterly by the Boers, who congregate from different parts to partake of it together.
Natal.—Terra Natalis, or Christmas land, was so named by its discoverer, Vasco da Gama, on the 25th of December 1497. Population 900,000, a tenth of whom are whites. Natal became a British Colony in 1843, and in 1856 was made independent of Cape Colony. The total area of New Natal is 35,000 square miles. Pietermaritzburg is the capital, and its most flourishing seaport is Durban. ”

“ In all that world-wide empire which the spirit of the English colonisation has conquered from out of the realms of the distant and unknown, and added year by year to the English dominions, it is doubtful whether there be any one spot of corresponding area, presenting so many large questions, social and political, as the colony of Natal. Wrested some thirty years ago from the patriarchal Boers, and peopled by a few scattered scores of adventurous emigrants, Natal has with hard toil gained for itself a precarious foothold hardly yet to be called an existence. ”

“ Captain Gordon was an old cruiser in these waters, having been Senior Lieutenant of a steamer during the Kaffir war; and, being well acquainted with the coast, he kept well in shore, and took great pleasure in pointing out to us every remarkable place on the passage to Natal.
One cannot help being struck with the park-like appearance of the land, when steaming along the coast of Kaffraria; a valuable territory, [98] situated between our two colonies of the Cape and Natal, which, in the course of events, must become annexed to our South African possessions. ”