The Cape and the Kaffirs: A Diary of Five Years' Residence in KaffirlandWard, Mrs.
History
The Cape and the Kaffirs: A Diary of Five Years' Residence in Kaffirland
Ward, Mrs.
South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878
"In the record of a war, where troops and settlers are united in the
field, and where each among the latter has a stake at issue beyond mere
worldly fame, the settler claims an equal place with the soldier, and
honourable mention when he deserves it. Alas! within the last twelve
months how many have `died and made no sign,' who, with hearts crushed
under the weight of sorrow and anxiety, and toil-worn and dispirited,
have sat down at last, awaiting their release from present misery, in
dull, absolute despair! `Ha!' exclaimed the Kaffir scouts one day from
the hills, `ha! ha! Umlunghi, we will put the cold hand upon you!'
Truly, they have kept their word, in more ways than one. Those who fell
in the first engagements have escaped a year's anguish, and much `hope
deferred.' Let us trust that those who die now, like Mr Bowker,
leaving his widow and children mourning for him on his desolate land,
may at least close their eyes on the dawning of a bright horizon."
I must not omit to mention the death of another settler, Mr Philip
Norton, holding the temporary rank of Captain in the Graham's Town
Hottentot Levy. Here we have the same record of misery, the same tale
of slow fever induced by the fatigue, exposure, and privations
incidental to the state of this frontier at the present juncture.
Driven from his home, a year before, by the rush of the Kaffirs, his
premises were fired, his flocks were scattered, and he was obliged to
take up arms in the common defence. At the age of seven-and-twenty,
this young man, who commenced his career with every prospect of success,
dies the victim of the late disastrous war, leaving a young widow and
four little children to mourn his loss.
PART TWO, CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
CAPABILITIES OF THE COLONY.
"April 20th, 1847.--To-day is the anniversary of our sad intelligence
from the Amatolas, with its list of killed and wounded. It is a
singular fact that the Kaffirs themselves dislike to be questioned
concerning the remains of poor Captain Bambrick, but have no hesitation
in speaking of other sufferers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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