South Africa -- Description and travel; South Africa -- History -- 1836-1909; South Africa -- History -- To 1836
Throughout the whole country which the English and the Dutch between
them have occupied as their own, the Kafirs are the superiors in numbers
in much greater proportion than that stated above in reference to the
town of Kimberley;--but these numbers are to be found, not in towns, but
out in their own hitherto untouched districts, where they live
altogether after their old ways, where the Kafirs of to-day are as were
the Kafirs of fifty years ago. And even with those who have come under
our dominion and who live to some degree intermixed with us, the greater
proportion still follow their old customs of which idleness and
dependence on the work of women for what is absolutely necessary to
existence, may be said to be the most prominent. The work of civilizing
as it has been carried out by simple philanthropy or by religion is
terribly slow. One is tempted sometimes to say that nothing is done by
religion and very little by philanthropy. But love of money works very
fast. In Griqualand West, especially in the Diamond Fields, and above
all at Kimberley, it is not only out in the wilds, by the river sides,
on the veld, and in their own kraals, that the black men outnumber the
white; but in the streets of the city also and in the work shops of the
mine. And here they are brought together not by the spasmodic energy of
missionaries or by the unalluring attraction of schools but by the
certainty of earning wages. The seeker after diamonds is determined to
have them because the making of his fortune depends upon them; and the
Kafir himself is determined to come to Kimberley because he has learned
the loveliness of 10s. a week paid regularly into his hand every
Saturday night.
Who can doubt but that work is the great civilizer of the world,--work
and the growing desire for those good things which work only will bring?
If there be one who does he should come here to see how those dusky
troops of labourers, who ten years since were living in the wildest
state of unalloyed savagery, whose only occupation was the slaughter of
each other in tribal wars, each of whom was the slave of his Chief, who
were subject to the dominion of most brutalizing and cruel
superstitions, have already put themselves on the path towards
civilization. They are thieves no doubt;--that is they steal diamonds
though not often other things. They are not Christians. They do not yet
care much about breeches. They do not go to school. But they are
orderly. They come to work at six in the morning and go away at six in
the evening. They have an hour in the middle of the day, and know that
they have to work during the other hours. They take their meals
regularly and, what is the best of all, they are learning to spend
their money instead of carrying it back to their Chiefs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account