The Rev. J. Campbell Writes to Africaner

The Rev. J. Campbell writes to Africaner — Mr. Ebner sent to the mission — Journey to Namaqua-land — Views of young travellers — - No choice — Driving loose cattle — Awkward circumstances — The lost sheep — Swollen river — Leave Bysondermeid — A desert scene — “Oxen run away — Mr. Bartlett arrives — Arrive at Pella — Cross the Orange River — A vigorous contest.

The Rev. J. Campbell, in his first visit to Africa, to which reference has been made, found it necessary to cross the interior of the continent to Namaqua-land. During his journey, he found in every village through which he passed, the terror of Africaner’s name, and, as Mr. C. expresses it, “a trembling, lest he should pay them a visit and he might have added, what he has often since done with the voice, “that he and his retinue never were so afraid in their lives.” On reaching Pella, he wrote a conciliatory letter to Africaner; and leaving it to be forwarded, pursued his journey to the Colony. Mr. Sass undertook to convey this important document; but after searching for Africaner for some time, he was compelled, by thirst and hunger, to relinquish his object, committing the letter to one well acquainted with Africaner, and in whom he could confide. On his return, Mr. S. and his attendants had nearly perished from thirst; they came to a hole in a rock where there was water, and into which a large hyena havung forced itself, had been drowned: the stench was horrible, and in attempting to draw the now putrid carcass out, it went to pieces in their hands. But thirst will compel a man to do what would scarcely he credited in

England; they drank, though the beasts of burden, panting for want of water, would not taste of the almost putrid draught. To this letter Africaner sent a favourable reply, and C. Albrecht lost no time in accomplishing what he had so long desired; and soon after Mr. Ebner was sent from Pella.

I now enter into the history of that part of the Namaqua mission which requires a delicate hand to touch, and which cannot he done without violence to my own feelings. But it is impossible for me to avoid reference to certain points which illustrate subsequent events. The station now occupied by Mr. Ebner was a most important one, on which great responsibilities lay, and from which results of the highest importance might accrue to Namaqua-land. Mr. Elmer’s labours were blessed, though he was not what Mr. Albrecht desired, nor the man Mr. Camp¬ bell would have sent; but labourers were few. It required no little circumspection, acuteness, and decision, to gain influence and esteem from a people who had been guilty of such enormities, and whose hand had been against every one. Every action and sentence of the missionary was weighed by minds accustomed to scrutinize and suspect. In the course of a short time, Africaner, his two brothers, David and Jacobus, with a number of others, were baptized; hut soon after, Mr. Ehner’s situation was rendered extremely trying, by the interference of a runaway from the Cape, named Peterson, who went so far as to threaten to take Mr. E.’s property, and even his

life, if he resisted; while, to the grief of the latter, it was evident that Africaner connived at the menaces of this individual, whom he had power to control with a word.

In 1817, Mr. Ebner visited Cape Town for supplies, where the writer first hailed him with delight, as his companion and guide in his future labours, upon which he was now entering. As my course, with that of Mr. Kitchingman, who was appointed to Bysondermeid, in Little Namaqua-land, lay to that place, in order to see Mr. Schmelen, we did not travel much together, Mr. Ebner having to take another route. It was evident to me, as I approached the boundaries of the Colony, that the farmers, who, of course, had not one good word to say of Africaner, were sceptical to the last degree about his reported conversion, and most unceremoniously predicted my destruction. One said he would set me up for a mark for his boys to shoot at; and another, that he would strip off my skin, and make a drum of it to dance to; another most consoling prediction was, that he would make a drinking cup of my skull. I believe they were serious, and especially a kind motherly lady, who, wiping the tear from her eye, bade me farewell, saying, “Had you been an old man, it would have been nothing, for you would soon have died, whether or no; but you are young, and going to become a prey to that monster.”

A hasty sketch of our journey to Bysondermeid, may not be unacceptable to some of my readers, who may be little acquainted with Africa. Raw travellers in that country generally have to learn much by experience, and that sometimes dear-bought, the mode of conveyance being so entirely different from that of Europe. The first thing, the wagon, in his estimation, is an awkward, heavy vehicle; and though he never in his life was in a wheelwright’s shop, he pronounces it clumsy, and capable of immense improvement; hut, like all his predecessors, eventually confesses that its size, and mechanism, are inimitably adapted to the ravines and rocky ascents over which it must pass. Accustomed to a horse, though not railroad speed, he is wearied out of patience with the slow and measured paces of the oxen, going at two and a half miles an hour, and only seven or eight hours each day. The untractable disposition of some, and the apparently awkward harness of ten or twelve oxen before the wagon, produce something like disgust. I remember one newly arrived, a tailor by trade, remarking as he looked on a graceful African team, “How barbarous the people must be not to be able to harness their oxen better; any one would improve it.” He has not done it yet. He then finds fault with the peoy)le, and thinks himself very patient, because he does not scold them hard, or disband them altogether. The people not understanding his broken language, and he knowing but little of theirs, preclude him from having things done as he would. His oxen stray; one man is tardy, another lazg and a third runs away, and probably relieves him of a trifle of his heavy load, which had brought. him to a halt in the bed of a river, or on the side of a hleak mountain. He pronounces, or is ready to pronounce, African servants as lazv, disobedient, dishonest, and, in fact, lihels them and dhose under whom they have been instructed. ]llr. Kitcliingman and myself were spared many of

these hard lessons, having been located with kind and hospitable farmers, some months before commencing our journey; but we had our trials, though not, like some of our predecessors, in the gipsy life of an African traveller. We obtained men to drive the wagons, and men to lead the team of oxen, for each team requires a driver and a leader; and as it is necessary, for contingencies, to have a number of loose or spare oxen, and sometimes sheep for slaughter, and occasionally a horse, an individual or two are required to bring them up in the rear. Servants being very scarce at the time we travelled, it was with great difficulty we procured a loose cattle driver; one we obtained, hut, on getting a portion of his reward in advance, he decamped. Mr. K. and I undertook to do the work ourselves, and from the extreme heat of the season, (November,) it was necessary to travel most during the night. We took the work alternately, for Mrs. Kitchingman being in a very delicate state of health, and near a period of maternal solicitude, it was necessary that one should constantly attend to support her, under the almost constant jolting of the wagon, without springs, on a rough and stony road. The task of driving the loose cattle was not an easy one, for frequently the oxen would take one course, the sheep another, and the horses a third. It required no little perseverance as well as courage, when sometimes the hyena would approach with his unearthly howl, and set the poor timid sheep to their heels; and the missionary, dreading the loss of his mutton, in his haste, gets his legs lacerated by one bush, and his face scratched by another, now tumbles prostrate ovei’ an ant-hill, and then headlong into the large hole of a w’ild boar. He frequently arrives at the halting place long after the wagons, when the keen eye of the native wagon driver surveys the cattle, and announces to the breathless and thirsty missionary, that he has lost some of his charge. He sits down by the fire, which is always behind a bush, if such is to be found, tells his exploits, looks at his wounds, and so ends his day’s labours with a sound sleep. Next morning he gets up early to seek the strayed, and if it happen to be a sheep, he is almost sure to find only the bones, the hyena having made a repast on the rest. Once our little flock of sheep was reduced to one, and one sheep will not easily travel alone, but soon becomes very tame, so as to walk about like one of the dogs; indeed, ours became so very sociable, that we loved it, and tried hard to spare its life. It generally travelled with a long leathern thong tied round its neck, with which it was fastened during the night. However, having fasted long from animal food, being unable to 2:)rocure game, sentence was passed, and the pet sheep was to die next morning; but it so happened that the near aj)proach of a hyena frightened away the sheep, and being dark, the country bushy and mountainous, pursuit was out of the question. Early next morning JMr. K. and I followed the track, which showed us that the hyena had pursued it to the mountains, to which such animals instinctively resort. After a long and wearisome search, we discovered our lost sheep near the top of the rugged elevation. It had still, as the natives express it, de schrik in de lyfe, (the terror in the body,) and fled at our approach; some¬ times when we, after great labour, got within a step of tl le tlioiur, awav it bounded, till it ascended clifls SWOLLEN RIVER.

beyond our reach. It was most mortifying to us to leave such a feast to the panthers, hut not having a gun with us, and seeing some foot-marks of these dangerous animals, we slowly returned to the wagons, where all were anticipating a mutton chop, and the only compliment paid to our exertions was, that we had managed very badly.

We had troubles of another kind, and such as we did not expect in so dry and thirsty a land. Kain had fallen some time previous in the neighbourhood of Kamies Berg: the loose soil, abounding in limy particles, had become so saturated, that frequently, as the oxen and wagons went along the road, they would suddenly sink into a mire, from which they were extricated with difficulty, being obliged to unload the wagons and drag them out backwards. One river was so swollen and rapid, that Mrs. K, preferred being carried over to going in the wagon. Being rather more robust than Mr. K., this duty devolved on me, and it was not an easy one, as the stones in the river were as slippery as butter, and the whole party stand¬ ing on the bank, all in a titter, expecting every moment that we should both have a plunge, which, though not unattended with danger, excited the risible faculties in no ordinary degree.

It was at Bysondermeid that I saw, for the first time, what might strictly be called a real native congregation, consisting of the aborigines of the country; and I shall never forget what were my emotions when listening to Mr. Schmelen, in his energetic style, addressing the attentive throng, and observing what attention they paid to the broken Dutch of the missionary recruits. This was to be the scene of Mr. Kitchingman’s labours. while IVIr. Sclimelen was to proceed to the interior of Great Namaqua-land, where he had before laboured.

I remained nearly a month with Mr. Sclimelen at ]3ysondermeid. His long experience afforded me much useful information. My oxen being somewhat rested, I bade farewell to my companions in travel, Mr. and Mrs. Kitchingman, now greatly endeared, and proceeded with a guide through a comparatively trackless desert. Having travelled nearly the whole night through deep sand, the oxen began to lie down in the yoke from fatigue, obliging us to halt before reaching water. The next day we pursued our course, and on arriving at the place where we had hoped to find water, we were dis¬ appointed. As it appeared evident that if we continued the same route we must perish from thirst, at the suggestion of my guide we turned northward, over a dreary, trackless, sandy waste, without one green blade of grass, and scarcely a bush on which the wearied eye could rest. Becoming dark, the oxen unable to proceed, our¬ selves exhausted with dreadful thirst and fatigue, we stretched our wearied limbs on sand still warm from the noon-tide heat, being the hot season of the year. Thirst aroused us at an early hour; and finding the oxen incapable of moving the wagon one inch, we took a spade, and, with the oxen, proceeded to a hollow in a neighbouring mountain. Here we laboured for a long time, digging an immense hole in the sand, whence we obtained a scanty supply, exactly resembling the old bilge-water of a ship, but winch was drunk with an avidity which no pen can describe. Hours were occupied in incessant labour to obtain a sufficiency for the oxen, which, by the time all had partaken, were ready for a second draught; while some, from the

depth of the hole and the loose sand, got scarcely any. We filled the small vessels which we had brought, and returned to the wagon over a plain glowing with a meridian sun; the sand being so hot, it was distressingly painful to walk. The oxen ran frantic, till they came to a place indurated, with little sand. Here they stood together, to cool their burning hoofs in the shade of their own bodies; those on the outside always trying to get into the centre. In the evening, when about to yoke them in order to proceed on our journey, we found that most of the oxen had run off towards Bysondermeid. An attendant, who was despatched in search of them, returned at midnight with the sad tidings that he was compelled by thirst, and terror of meeting with lions, to abandon his pursuit.

No time was to be lost, and I instantly sent off the remaining oxen with two men, to take them to the next fountain, and then proceed to solicit assistance from Mr. Bartlett, at Pella. Three days I remained with my wagon-driver on this burning plain, with scarcely a breath of wind; and what there was felt as if coming from the mouth of an oven. We had only tufts of dry grass to make a small fire, or rather flame; and little was needful, for we had scarcely any food to prepare. We saw no human being, although we had an extensive prospect; not a single antelope or beast of prey made its appearance; but in the dead of the night we some¬ times heard the distant roar of the lion on the mountain, where we had to go twice a day for our nauseous but grateful beverage. At last, when we were beginning to fear that the men had either perished or wandered, Mr. Bartlett arrived on horseback, with two men having a quantity of mutton tied to their saddles. I cannot conceive of an epicure gazing on a table groan¬ ing under the weight of viands, with half the delight that I did on the mutton, which, though killed only the preceding evening, required no keeping to make it ten¬ der. Oxen had been sent for, which were to arrive in two days. This time was spent in mutually refreshing intercourse; but Mr. B., although inured to Namaqua heat, remarked, that what we experienced was enough to set the grass on fire.

Fresh oxen, accustomed to deep sand, soon brought us to Pella. Here I remained a few days, and was greatly invigorated in body and mind by the truly Christian kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett, as well as by the friendly attentions of the heathen converts. When about to depart, Magerman, the native teacher of Warm Bath, arrived with oxen, for the purpose of conveying me thither. Hence, a contention, if such it maybe called, ensued, my destination being Africaner’s kraal, where they were awaiting my arrival, having been apprized of my coming by Mr. Ehner, who had returned there about six weeks previous. At last Magerman consented to take me to the other side of the river; and the good man, hoping to gain his point, conducted me to a ford, opposite which a village of his people lay, who he expected would take me by force. The wagon and its contents were swam over piecemeal, on a fragile raft of dry willow logs, about six feet long, and from four to six inches in diameter, fastened together with the inner hark of the mimosas, which stud the hanks of the river, which is at this ])lace 500 yards wide, rocky, with a rapid current. The rafts are carried a great distance down by the stream, taken to pieces every time ot crossing, each man swimming hack with a log.

When, after some days’ labour, all was conveyed to the opposite shore, the last raft was prepared for me, on which I was requested to place myself, and hold fast. I confess though a swimmer, I did not like the voyage, independently of not wishing to give them the trouble of another laborious crossing. I withdrew along the woody bank, and plunged into the river, leaving my clothes to be conveyed over. As soon as they saw me approach¬ ing the middle of the current, terrified lest evil should befall me, some of the most expert swimmers plunged in, and laboured hard to overtake me, but in vain; and when I reached the northern bank, an individual came up to me, almost out of breath, and asked, Were you born in the great sea water?”

The wagon and contents being removed beyond the reach of a flood, which sometimes comes down with little warning, an affecting scene presented itself, which perfectly overcame my feelings. Magerman and his people beset my wagon, reasoning, pleading, and pray¬ ing that I might go to Warm Bath. The following day the subject was renewed with such earnestness, that it was afternoon before I tasted a mouthful of food. At last the women came like a regiment, and declared that if I left them, I must take the wagon over their bodies, for they would lie down before the wheels. It was in vain I pleaded my destination, and the necessity of proceeding first to Africaner, to fulfil the promise of the Directors. At last a party of Africaner’s people, with three of his brothers, were seen approaching in the distance. This ended the painful conflict; for, awed by their presence, they withdrew, with many tears.