Journey to Cape Town
Journey to Cape Town — The power of the Gospel — Africaner’s critical position — A ludicrous scene — Incredulity of a farmer — The surprise — Africaner’s visit to the Governor — Sensation produced — The author appointed to the Bechuanas — Africaner conveys his goods to Lattakoo — His death — His early experience — Dreams and visions — Africaner’s dream — The author’s anxiety about the mission — Why relinquished — Wesleyans resume the mission — Mr. Backhouse’s testimony — Difficulties inevitable — Prospective view.
AVhile engaged in an interesting conversation with Africaner on the state and prospect of the mission, in connexion with the barrier to civilization, not only from the state of country and climate, but also from the want of intercourse with the Colony, the idea darted into my mind, that Africaner would do well to accompany me to Cape Town; and I at once made the proposal. The good man looked at me again and again, gravely asking whether I were in earnest, and seemed fain to ask if I were in my senses too; adding, with great fervour, “I had thought you loved me, and do you advise me to go to the government, to he hung up as a spectacle of public justice and putting his hand to his head, he asked, ‘‘ Do you not know that I am an outlaw, and that 1000 rix-dollars have been offered for this poor head?” These difficulties I endeaxmured to remove, by assuring him that the
results would be most satisfactory to himself, as well as to the Governor of the Cape. Here Africaner exhibited his lively faith in the gracious promises of God, by replying, “I shall deliberate, and commit, (or, as he used the word according to the Dutch translation) roll my way upon the Lord; I know he will not leave me.”
During three days this subject was one of public discussion, and more than one came to me with grave looks, asking if I had advised Africaner to go to the Cape. On the third day the point was decided, and we made preparations for our departure, after having made the necessary arrangements for continuing the means of instruction during my absence. Nearly all the inhabitants accompanied us half a day’s journey to the banks of the Orange Liver, where we had to wait several days, it having overflowed all its banks. The kindness of the people, and the tears which were shed when we parted from them, were deeply affecting.
Arriving at Pella, (the place as before stated, to which some of the people from Warm Bath had re¬ tired when the latter was destroyed by Africaner,) we had a feast fit for heaven-born souls, and subjects to which the seraphim above might have tuned their golden lyres. Men met who had not seen each other since they had joined in mutual combat for each other’s woe; met — warrior with warrior, bearing in their hands the olive branch, secure under the panoply of peace and love. They talked of Him wdio had subdued both, without a sword or spear, and each bosom swelled with purest friendship, and exhibited another trophy destined to adorn the triumph of the Prince of
Peace, under whose banner each was promoting that reign in which —
“No longer hosts encountering hosts,
Their heaps of slain deplore;
They hang the trumpet in the hall,
And study war no more.”
Here I again met with Mr. Bartlett and family, who, with the chief and people of the station, loaded us with kindness.
We spent some pleasant days while the subject of getting Africaner safely through the territories of the farmers to the Cape, was the theme of much conversation. To some the step seemed somewhat hazardous. Africaner and I had fully discussed the point before leaving the station, and I was confident of success. Though a chief, there was no need of laying aside anything like royalty, with a view to travel in disguise. Of two substantial shirts left, I gave him one; he had a pair of leather trowsers, a dufiel jacket, much the worse for wear, and an old hat, neither white nor black, and my own garb was scarcely more refined. As a farther precaution, it was agreed, that for once I should be the chief, and he should assume the appearance of a servant, when it was desirable, and pass for one of my attendants.
Ludicrous as the picture may appear, the subject was a grave -one, and the season solemn and important; often did I lift up my heart to Him in whose hands are the hearts of all men, that his presence might go with us. It might here he remarked, once for all, that the Dutch farmers, notwithstanding all that has been said against them by some travellers, are, as a people, exceedingly hospitable and kind to
strangers. Exceptions there are, but these are few, and perhaps more rare than in any country under the sun. Some of these worthy people on the borders of the Colony, congratulated me on returning alive, having often heard, as they said, that I had been long since murdered by Africaner. Much wonder was expressed at my narrow escape from such a monster of cruelty, the report having been spread that Mr. Ebner had but just escaped with the skin of his teeth. While some would scarcely credit my identity; my
testimonv as to the entire reformation of Africaner’s
character, and his conversion, was discarded as the effusion of a frenzied brain. It sometimes afforded no little entertainment to Africaner and the Namaquas, to hear a farmer denounce this supposed irreclaimable savage. There were only a few, however, who were sceptical on this subject. At one farm, a novel scene exhibited a state of feeling respecting Africaner and myself, and likewise displayed the power of Divine grace under peculiar circumstances. It was necessary, from the scarcity of water, to call at such houses as lay in our road. The farmer referred to was a good man in the best sense of the word; and he and his wife had both shown me kindness on my way to Nam aqua-land. On approaching the house, which was on an eminence, I directed my men to take the wagon to the valley below, while I walked toward the house. The farmer, seeing a stranger, came slowly down the descent to meet me. When within a few yards, I addressed him in the usual way, and stretching out my hand, expressed my pleasure at seeing him again. He put his hand behind him, and asked me, rather wildly, who I was. I replied that I was Moffat, expressing niy wonder that he should have forgotten me. “Moffat!” he rejoined, in a faltering voice; it is your ghost I” and moved some steps backward. am no ghost.” “Don’t come near me!” he exclaimed, “you have been long murdered by Africaner.” “But I am no ghost,” I said, feeling my hands, as if to convince him and myself, too, of my materiality; but his alarm only increased. “Everybody says you were murdered; and a man told me he had seen your bones;” and he continued to gaze at me, to the no small astonishment of the good wife and children, who were standing at the door, as also to that of my people, who were looking on from the wagon below. At length he extended his trem¬
bling hand, saying, “When did you rise from the dead?” Ashe feared my presence would alarm his wife, we bent our steps towards the wagon, and Afri¬ caner was the subject of our conversation. I gave him in a few words my views of his present character, saying, “He is now a truly good man.” To which he replied, “I can believe almost any thing you say, but that I cannot credit; there are seven wonders in the world, that would be the eighth.” I appealed to the displays of Divine grace in a Paul, a Manasseh, and referred to his Own experience. He’ replied, “These were another description of men, but that Africaner was one of the accursed sons of Plain,” enumerating some of the atrocities of AAdiich he had been guilty. By this time we were standing with Africaner at our feet, on whose countenance sat a smile, well knowing the prejudices of some of the
farmers. The farmer closed the conversation by say¬ ing, with much earnestness, “Well, it what you assert be true respecting that man, I have only one wish, and that is, to see him before I die; and when you return, as sure as the sun is over our heads, I will go with you to see him, though he killed my own uncle.” I was not before aware of this fact, and now felt some hesitation whether to discover to him the object of his wonder; but knowing the sincerity of the farmer, and the goodness of his disposition, I said, “This, then, is Africaner!” He started back, looking in¬ tensely at the man, as if he had just dropped from the clouds. “Are you Africaner?” he exclaimed. He arose, doffed his old hat, and making a polite bow, answered, “I am.” The farmer seemed thunder¬ struck; but when, by a few questions, he had assured himself of the fact, that the former bugbear of the border stood before him, now meek and lamb-like in his whole deportment, he lifted up his eyes, and exclaimed, “O God, what a miracle of thy power 1 what cannot thy grace accomplish?” The kind far¬ mer, and his no less hospitable wife, now abundantly supplied our wants; but we hastened our departure, lest the intelligence might get abroad that Africaner was with me, and bring unpleasant visitors.
On arriving at Cape Town, I waited on his Excellency the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, who appeared to receive with considerable scepticism, my testimony that I had brought the far-famed Africaner on a visit to his Excellency. The following day was appointed for an interview, when the chief was received by Lord Charles with great affability and kind¬ ness; and he expressed his pleasure at seeing thus before him, one who had formerly been the scourge of the country, and the terror of the border colonists.
His Excellency was evidently much struck with this result of missionary enterprise, the benefit of which he had sometimes doubted. I remembered when I first arrived at Cape Town, the reply to my memorial for permission to proceed to my destination in Great Namaqua-land, was, that his Excellency had cogent reasons for not complying with my request, and I was obliged to remain eight months in the Colony: this time was not, however, lost, for it was turned to advantage by learning the Dutch language, and attend¬ ing to other preliminaries for a missionary campaign. Whatever he might think of his former views, his Excellency was now convinced that a most important point had been gained; and, as a testimony of his good feeling, he presented Africaner with an excellent wagon, value eighty pounds sterling.
A short time previous to my visit to the Cape, a deputation from the London Missionary Society, consist¬ ing of the Revds. J. Campbell and Dr. Philip, arrived, for the purpose of examining the state of our African missions, and to them Africaner’s visit was a subject of deep interest. It appeared to be one of the happiest moments of Mr. Campbell’s life to hold converse with the man at whose very name, on his first visit to Namaqua-land, he had trembled, but on whom, in answer to many prayers, he now looked as a brother beloved. Often while interpreting for Mr. C. in his inquiries, I have been deeply affected with the over¬ flow of soul experienced by both, while rehearsing the scenes of bygone days.
Africaner’s appearance in Cape Town excited considerable attention, as his name and exploits had been familiar to many of its inhabitants lor
N more than twenty years. Many were struck with the unexpected mildness and gentleness of his demeanor, and others with his piety and accurate knowledge of the Scriptures, His New Testament was an interesting object of attention, it was so completely thumbed and worn by use. His answers to a number of questions put to him by the friends in Cape Town, and at a public meeting at the Paarl, exhibited his diligence as a student in the doctrines of the Gospel, especially when it is remembered that Afri¬ caner never saw a Catechism in his life, but obtained all his knowledge on theological subjects from a careful perusal of the Scriptures, and the verbal instructions of the missionary.
My object in coming to the Colony was twofold; to procure supplies, and to introduce Africaner to the notice of the Colonial Government. With the fullest hope of returning to my dock, who had now become exceedingly dear to me, I had made purchases on the road to take with me on my return; but this was not to take place, for it was the wish of the Deputation, that I should accompany them in their visits to the missionary stations, and eventually be appointed to the Bechuana mission. To me this was at drst a startling proposition, and one to which I acceded with much reluctance, and not till Africaner gave his entire consent, which he did with great diffidence and modesty, having some slight hope, in which I concurred, that he might with his people re¬ move to that neighbourhood, having been frequently invited by a tribe of the Bechuanas, parties of whom were wont to trade with him in Namaqua-land. Africaner and party left with mingled emotions, and
were kindly supplied with a government passport to ensure the friendship and attention of the colonists, through whose lands they must pass.
The remaining particulars of this good man’s career must now be related as briefly as possible; to which I propose to add some observations on the termination of our missionary operations in Namaqualand. He very generously offered to take my books and a few articles of furniture I had purchased, in his wagon across the continent to Lattakoo. During my stay at Cape Town, Miss Smith, to whom I had been long previously engaged, arriving from England, we were united, and we accompanied Mr. Campbell on his second visit to Lattakoo. Here we were favoured with one more short but delightful interview. This faithful and affectionate friend remembered his promise, and brought me the articles, of which he knew I must stand in need. Nearly a year had intervened, and he had spent the time, in conjunction with his brothers David and Jacobus, in continuing the public services, and teaching in the schools at the station, while I had been on the tour with the Deputation. Mr. Campbell being about to return to England, Africaner travelled with us as far as Daniel’s Kuil to accompany him, where he met the Griqua chief, Berend Berend, with whom, as stated in a former chapter, he had had many a deadly con¬ test. Being now both converts to the faith, all their former animosities were melted away by the gospel of peace and love. These chiefs sat down together in our tent with a number of people, when all united in singing a hymn of praise to God, and listening to an address, from the invitation of Jehovah to
the ends of the earth to look to Him, and Him alone, for salvation. After which, they knelt at the same stool, before the peaceful throne of the Redeemer; thus the Gospel makes —
“Lions, and beasts of savage name,
Put on the nature of the lamb.”
We parted, with some hope that we migdit see him again: but no — it was the last farewell; for scarcely two years had elapsed when he was called to enter into the joy of his Lord. This he had anticipated, with the full assurance of hope, believing that ‘‘when his earthly house should be dissolved, he would have a building of God.’’ — The closing scene of his life is faithfully delineated by the Rev. J. Archbell, Wesleyan missionary, in a letter to Dr. Philip, dated March 14th, 1823.
“When he found his end approaching, he called all the people together, after the example of Joshua, and gave them directions as to their future conduct. ‘ We are not,’ said he, ‘ what we were, savages, but men professing to be taught according to the Gospel. Let us then do accordingly. Live peaceably with all men, if possible: and if impossible, consult those who are placed over you, before you engage in any thing. Remain together, as you have done since I knew you. Then wdien the Directors think fit to send you a missionary, you may be ready to receive him. Behave to any teacher you may have sent as one sent of God, as I have great hope that God will bless you in this respect when I am gone to heaven. I feel that I love God, and that he has done much for me, of which I am totally unworthy.
“‘My former life is stained with blood; but Jesus Christ has pardoned me, and I am going to heaven. Oh! beware of falling into the same evils into which I have led you frequently; but seek God, and he will be found of you to direct you.’
“Africaner was a man of sound judgment, and of undaunted ms EARLY EXPERIENCE. courage; and although he himself was one of the first and the severest persecutors of the Christian cause, he would, had he lived, have spilled his blood, if necessary, for his missionary.”
Many had been the refreshing hours we had spent together, sitting or walking, tracing the operations of the word and Spirit on his mind, which seemed
to have been first excited under the ministry of Christian Albrecht. Subsequent to that period, his thoughts were frequently occupied while looking around him, and surveying the “handy-works” of God, and asking the question, Are these the productions of some great Being? — how is it that his name and character have been lost among the Namaquas, and the knowledge of Him confined to so few? — has that knowledge only lately come to the world? — how is it that He does not address mankind in oral language?” His mind had received an impetus, not from the light of nature, bright as her page appears to one even partially illumined by the voice of revelation, but from what he had heard from the missionary. The torch of Divine truth which had but just begun to irradiate with its yet feeble rays his intellectual powers, had been by his own violence removed far beyond his reach, and he was thus left to grope like one in the dark; but dark as his soul was, he could not retire from the ruins of Warm Bath without a pang. In trying to grasp the often indistinct rays of light, which would occasionally flit across his partially awakened understanding, he became the more bewildered, especially when he thought of the spirit of the Gospel message, ‘‘ Good-will to man.”
He often wondered whether the hook he saw some of the farmers use said any thing on the subject; and then he would conclude, that if they worshipped any such being, he must he one of a very different character from that God of love to whom the missionaries directed the attention of the Namaquas.
It was at a period when Africaner’s judgment appeared to be wavering, and when he was about to dismiss for ever from his thoughts the graver subjects of revelation, death and immortality, that he had rather a remarkable dream, which gave his mind a bias it never afterward forsook. Although I admit, with many others, that dreams may be of three classes, human, satanic, and divine, — those of the latter class being very rare, — I have ever found it necessary to discourage, rather than to countenance, a regard to them among the heathen, on whose minds light has just begun to break, and who, under their first impressions, are very prone to give a superstitious interpretation to dreams, some of which are of too monstrous a character to be permitted an asylum in the mind. These generally obtain currency among the ignorant, and such as feel more pleasure in hawk¬ ing about their nocturnal reveries, than spending their time in learning to read the law and the testimony; and the delusion does not stop here; they hear of visions, and think that they may come in for a share of them, and thus bring back the ancient dispensation, adding to dreams unearthly sights.
I have heard of some who had seen an angel behind a bush; of others who had beheld the Saviour, and could tell his form; of some who have heard a voice from heaven; of others who have gone as far as
Jerusalem, like Mahomet, though not on an ass, and ascended to the third heaven, and returned the same night. When these things have found place, the missionary finds it necessary gently to introduce other matters into their channels of reflection, and impart a genuine currency in the place of that hase coin, which, alas! is sometimes vended in more enlightened countries than Africa. But Africaner was a man who never dealt in such commodities. In the development of his Christian experience, his motto was, “Thus saith the Lord.” The following I heard him relate only once, and it seemed then to have been revived in his mind by looking at a mountain opposite to which we sat, and along the steep sides of which ran a narrow path to the top.
He supposed, in his dream, that he was at the hase of a steep and rugged mountain, over which he must pass by a path, leading along an almost perpendicular precipice to the summit. On the left of the path, the fearful declivity presented one furnace of fire and smoke, mingled with lightning. As he looked round to flee from a sight which made his whole frame tremble, one appeared out of those murky regions, whose voice, like thunder, said that there was no escape but by the narrow path. He attempted to ascend thereby, hut felt the reflected heat from the precipice (to which he was obliged to cling) more intense than that from the burning pit beneath. When ready to sink with mental and physical agony, he cast his eyes upwards beyond the burning gulf, and saw a person stand on a green mount, on which the sun appeared to shine with peculiar brilliancy. This individual drew near to the ridge of the preci-
pice, and beckoned him to advance. Shielding the side of his face with his hands, he ascended, through heat and smoke, such as he would have thought no human frame could endure. He at last reached the long-desired spot, which became increasingly bright, and when about to address the stranger, he awoke.
On asking him what was his interpretation of the dream, he replied, that it haunted his mind for a long time, like a poisonous thorn in the flesh, and he could bear to reflect on it only when, as he said, with great simplicity, I thought the path was the narrow road leading from destruction to safety, from hell to heaven; the stranger I supposed to be that Saviour of whom I had heard, and long were my thoughts occupied in trying to discover when and how I was to pass along the burning path adding, with tears in his eyes, “Thank God, I have passed.”
It may not be improper, before concluding the subject of the mission to Africaner, to notice the cause why a missionary was not sent according to promise. That I did not forget to urge it, may be seen from the following extract from one of my letters to the Directors;
“But whilst they afford cause for gratitude, it is to he recollected, that their situation calls for sympathy and help at your hands. You have had the honour of sending them the glad tidings of the Gospel, which have been blessed in a singular manner to many who were formerly buried in degradation and guilt. I have there seen the lion become a lamb, the captive set at liberty, and the mourner comforted: yea, more, I have seen men, once the dupes of ignorance and vice, sweetly falling asleep in Jesus; others exulting, as they departed out of life, and saying, ‘ It is finished, for guilty me.’ Sometimes my solitary moments are interrupted with their doleful complaints; — ‘You have snatched us from heathen darkness; discovered to us the enemies of our never-dying souls; pointed us to the Lamb of God, and withdrawn the curtain of the eternal world. We see the crown that awaits the faithful, but why have you left us to finish the warfare alone? The battle is great, and our strength is small, and we are ready to perish for lack of knowledge.’ Such is the situation of that interesting people, and surely such a situation demands sympathy and help.”
This appeal was not forgotten; but the expectation that the people would remove, according to their original intention, to another part of the country, caused some delay on the part of the Directors. Mr. Schmelen, also, who had laboured so successfully in Great Namaqua-land, and whose enterprise planted a station at Bethany, two hundred miles beyond the Orange River, had been compelled to retire towards the Colony, and abandon the Great Namaqua mission for a season, owing to the unsettled state- of the countrv, and a civil war on the station. At the same time, Africaner’s people separated, one part going towards the Fish River, where Jonker, alas! carried on the character of a freebooter, taking the cattle of the Damaras, while another part remained behind, on the old station, and kept up the worship of God.
At that period the mania for war extended from the Zoolus near Port Natal on the east, to Angra Pequena Bay on the west. Commencing with the Zoolus, Matabele, and Mantatees, the demon of war seemed to tly from people to people, and the numerous tribes of the Bechuana and Basuto appeared for a while devoted to destruction. Griquas, Corannas, and Namaquas, though last not least, from their contiguity to the Colony, possessing superior means of carrying on the bloody game, continued with few exceptions, to scatter devastation, distress, and woe, until the vengeance of Heaven fell both on them and their ill-gotten spoils. These were days of trials, and scarcely a missionary station escaped unscathed north of the Orange river.
As soon as these troubles began to subside in Namaqua-land, our Wesleyan brethren nobly extended their efforts to that country. Their labours have been crowned with success, and I have watched their onward progress with as much interest as if I had been one of their number. The field being thus ably occupied, it was unnecessary for the London Missionary Society to send others, while the character of the country already described, with its scanty population, and the cry for missionaries to carry on the work in more important fields, influenced the Directors to leave that section of the missionary world to our Wesleyan brethren.
While preparing the preceding pages, I received from Mr. J. Backhouse a tract entitled “Effects of the Gospel on the Africaner Family,” the perusal of which has afforded me the most grateful plea¬ sure. Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, two valuable members of the Society of Friends, have recently visited the Missionary stations in the South Seas, as well as those in South Africa. The results of their observation, as reported by them, are very satisfactory. In reference to the people of Namaqua-land, Mr. B. writes in a letter addressed to myself: — “I have no doubt but thou wilt be interested in learn¬ ing, that the Wesleyans are reaping an encouraging harvest in Great Namaqua-land, from the seed sown in former days by the London Missionary Society, in which thou hadst a part.”
. On the resumption of the Warm Bath station,
MR. backhouse’s TESTIMONY. (now Nisbet Bath,) and Africaner’s Kraal as an out-station, and the pleasing fruits which have followed the labours of Mr. Cook and others, the conversion of Titus Africaner, and the consequent peace and harmony among the people, once engaged in warlike strife, the writer of the tract makes the following judicious remarks. ‘Mn tracing the history of the Africaner family in the preceding pages, the reader will probably have been struck with the evidence it affords of the efficacy of the Gospel, notwithstanding it may have been imperfectly received, as well as the importance of attending to the counsel, ‘ In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that; or whether they both shall be alike good.’”
From Mr. Cook’s communications, it appears that there is a prospect of further openings in the interior, and even the Damara country may, ere long, become the field of missionary labour. It must be acknowledged, however, that difficulties almost insuperable present themselves in the way of carrying on missions in the back parts of Namaqua-land, and the country of the Damaras, from local circumstances; and, until there is a change of seasons, the Namaqua missions will continue to struggle as they have done, even though planted and supported on the most liberal principles. Expensive they must be to make them efficient, and the agents employed will have to lead a self-denying life, as long as their resources for themselves, as well as means of civilizing the people, have to he brought overland from Cape Town-Even were boring for water introduced, unless there
be more rain in the country, the people must ever lead a wandering life; an obstacle to missionary success complained of by all. A considerable time must elapse before the missionary can reach the understanding directly by his own voice, from the extreme difficulty of acquiring their clicking language; and although the Dutch is gradually supplanting it, much time will be necessary for the latter to become general.
Mr. Schmelen translated the four Gospels into the Namaqua language, which were printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. This, from the character of the language, must have been a work of much labour. Whether the Wesleyan brethren intend to carry on their work through the medium of the Namaqua or the Dutch language, I have not been able to ascertain. It would be no great loss if the Hottentot language were annihilated; though, from the scattered state of the population, it is not probable that this will soon be the case. But the zeal by which our Wesleyan brethren are distinguished, supported by an extensive native agency, may overcome all these difficulties, which would be greatly diminished were it possible to fix a mission¬ ary station on the sandy and sterile shores of Angra Pequena, and Walvisch Bays.
These places have been visited by Schmelen,^ Archbell, and Sir J. Alexander; but from all accounts the whole extent of the coast presents little to en¬ courage such a plan. The banks of some of the
* It is reported that Mr. Schmelen went to those places, but the author cannot vouch that he reached the latter. Mr. Archbell visited it by sea. rivers, in which water seldom flows, may be traced in their winding courses by acacias, the timber of which is of the poorest description. Ebony trees are also thinly scattered in the neighbourhood of the Orange River, hut neither there nor in the open country is any thing like timber to be found, which would authorize commercial speculations, as a late traveller into that country recommended. Independently of the Orange River not being navigable, and the want of suitable hays on the coast, the impossibility of the country being benefited from those quarters, will be evident. I feel persuaded that the period has arrived, when we must abandon the idea of long, expensive, tiresome, and in some instances dangerous journeys, either from the promontory of the Cape, or from Algoa Bay, to remote distances in the interior. It is now quite time to look to the eastern and western coasts of the continent, and form a chain of stations, from either, or both, to¬ wards the centre; and establish Missionary Colonies on lakes, or at the sources of those rivers which fall into the ocean. The want of navigable rivers, and the dry and often desert countries to be passed in Southern Africa in order to reach our isolated stations, present grievous barriers to the work of civilization, and in some parts we have got nearly to that point, at which resources from the south will be beyond the reach of the ability, either of the missionary or his people.