Boer History1797 at the Cape of Good Hope: Macartney Arrives, Bresler Returns, and Barrow’s Tour
Macartney Takes Office — 5 May 1797
Calendar 1797 opened from the gardens of 1652 with the colony already declared a British possession and with a civilian governor on the water. The British government had decided, at the end of 1796, to place a distinguished civilian over the Cape and to leave military affairs to an officer of high rank who should also act as lieutenant-governor. As governor, Earl Macartney was named on the 28th of December 1796. He had filled many posts of importance: in 1764 envoy extraordinary to the empress of Russia; in 1769 chief secretary of Ireland; in 1776 governor of Grenada; in 1780 governor of Madras. In October 1785, returning to Europe from Madras, he had visited Capetown and resided a fortnight. In 1792 he had gone as ambassador extraordinary to the emperor of China. An Irish nobleman with Indian experience, he now came to a refreshment station whose burghers had already had their fill of East Indian officials under the Company. [3] [4] [7]
He arrived in the ship of war Trusty on the 4th of May 1797. At ten o’clock the next morning, in presence of the members of the high court of justice, the burgher senate, the clergymen, and the principal residents in Capetown, his commission was read at government house in the garden, and he took the oaths of office. Major-General Francis Dundas had reached South Africa some months sooner, but did not assume duty until the 23rd of May, when General Craig proceeded to Bengal, relieved after nineteen months of administration. The rule of the new governor was a marked contrast to that of his predecessor. Unsympathetic, ignorant of the adverse conditions under which the frontier people had so long suffered, and arrived at an age when gout and other burdens of life bore heavily upon him, he was too prone to be vindictive against all whom he suspected of wanting proper regard for the British government. There was at least one strong sentiment in common to him and to John Barrow, who had accompanied the China embassy, met with many favours, and now came out as one of the governor’s private secretaries with a promise that he should be well provided for in South Africa: a detestation of jacobin principles so deep-rooted as to prevent them seeing any merit whatever in those who held republican views. [3] [4]
All the high offices were filled by Englishmen in receipt of large salaries. From the date of his appointment — the 1st of August 1796 — the governor drew from the colonial revenue £10,000 a year, besides a table allowance of £2,000; and he had the promise of a pension upon his retirement of £2,000 a year for life. Andrew Barnard drew £3,500 as colonial secretary. Hercules Ross, who had acted as secretary under Craig, was now deputy secretary at £1,500. John Hooke Green filled the collectorship of customs at £1,000. Anguish, a young gentleman who came out with Macartney purposely to be provided for, received the controllership of customs at £1,000; and upon his death a couple of days later the office was transferred to Acheson Maxwell, previously one of the governor’s private secretaries. Barrow was employed for a time in commissions to different parts of the country, and was then made auditor-general at £1,000 a year. Without going further, here was a sum of £20,000 a year, the first charge upon the colonial revenue. The whole revenue of 1796, the year before Macartney and the new staff took office, had been £28,903 19s. All other expenditure was necessarily reduced to the lowest possible amount, in order that the imperial treasury should not have to make good any deficiency. [3]
The government was free of the slightest taint of corruption, but was conducted on the strictest party lines. Those colonists who professed to be attached to Great Britain were treated with great favour. Lady Macartney had not accompanied her husband to South Africa, consequently there were no entertainments except dinners at government house; but Lady Anne Barnard, wife of the colonial secretary and one of the most fascinating women of her time, did all that was possible to captivate the wives and daughters of the leading townspeople, so as through them to secure the goodwill of their husbands and fathers. Her receptions and frequent evening parties at her beautiful home at Paradise were designed for that purpose; but the circle to which she was able to extend her influence was small. To those within it, as well as to the English military and naval officers and the high-placed officials, the government seemed a model of perfection. Among those who expressed the greatest satisfaction at having been relieved from the fear of French domination were Lieutenant-Colonel De Lille and Honoratus Maynier. The latter had come to reside at Wynberg. De Lille was now barrack-master in Capetown — a situation not usually held by a man of higher rank than a captain — and seemed perfectly satisfied with his position. What to the private secretary seemed good and liberal government appeared to others of his time oppressive and narrow; and there certainly never was a period in the history of the Cape Colony when there was less freedom of speech than during this administration. [3]
New Oath and Dragoons
As it had been resolved that the colony was to be a permanent British possession, a new oath of allegiance to the king was required of the burghers. To many of them this was very objectionable, and a few held back when summoned to appear before the officers appointed to administer it. The governor was firm. Dragoons were quartered upon several of the reluctant ones, and others were banished from the country. The late national commandant of Swellendam, Petrus Jacobus Delport, was among those who tried to evade taking the oath. He kept out of the way for a while. Quartering dragoons upon offenders holding jacobin principles was the ordinary method of “bringing them to reason.” There was a scale of diet, according to which the dragoons could insist upon being provided, if they were not supplied with food to their liking. In some instances payment was made, but in others food and lodging were demanded free. Burghers who were suspected of being republicans, but whose language and conduct gave no opportunity of bringing them to account, were appointed to some petty unpaid office, and if they declined to perform the duty and take the stringent oath required, a sergeant and ten dragoons speedily appeared with a demand for free quarters. [3] [4]
Soldiers were sent into the country districts and quartered on those who still refused; those who still held back were banished from the country. Officials were appointed who did not know a word of the language spoken everywhere. Anyone who ventured to express a preference for republican government was treated as guilty of sedition. Allowance, however, must be made for the circumstances of the time: England and France being then engaged in a desperate struggle, and men of the tory party, such as Macartney, regarding republican principles with something like horror. The slightest indication of French proclivities roused the ire of the governor. The selection of an East Indian martinet as well as an autocrat was already, in the second year of British dominion, read by republican colonists as a worse government than that of the Dutch East India Company — not only tyrannical, but untrustworthy of the promises Craig had made at the conquest. [3] [7]
On the frontier the same oath sat heavier. Most of the inhabitants of the far country refused it, or took it with a reservation that had already been the formula under Craig: true and faithful to George the Third for so long a time as His Majesty should remain in possession of this colony. At Graaff Reinet, when Bresler and Barrow arrived in July, the oaths were submissively taken by all — more than had been the case in the west. The contrast was not lost on the governor. He thought to eradicate the slightest suspicion of republican tendency by invading the home of a suspected individual with a sergeant and ten common soldiers, who had to be provided with board and lodging at the offender’s expense. The method was cheap, public, and humiliating; it did not require a trial; and it taught the Cape that the new possession was to be held as a prize of war, not as a partner in a free trade that Craig had promised and could not, under an order in council, entirely keep. [3] [4] [7]
From the gardens of 1652 the Castle still watched Table Bay, but the high offices that had once been Dutch were now English and salaried on a scale the old Company had never paid from colonial revenue. The burgher senate sat; Stellenbosch was quiet under Van der Riet; Swellendam had Faure and Stockenstrom. Graaff Reinet had submitted in August 1796 and still waited for a landdrost the people had once refused. Calendar 1797 therefore opened not on a conquest in progress but on a settlement that was to be made permanent — and on an oath, a sergeant, and ten dragoons as the instruments of that permanence. [3]
Trade Order, Slaves, and the High Court
Craig had promised the colonists free trade, and he kept his word as well as he could. By free trade must of course be understood what the words implied in those days, not what they imply now. A duty of five per cent of the value was charged upon both imports and exports, as under the Dutch East India Company. No merchandise whatever was allowed to be landed from a vessel under a foreign flag, unless by special permission under urgent circumstances, and then double import duties were charged upon such goods. Any produce required by the government could be demanded at stated prices. Before Macartney’s arrival direct commerce with England was not established, but goods were obtained from ships that called for supplies. The old Company regulation, fixing a price at which farmers had to sell their produce and stock to the government, was revived. Instead of free trade being allowed as Craig had promised, no trade whatever was permitted with any part of the East except the British East India Company’s territory. Everything brought from British ports in British vessels was landed free of duty, but merchandise brought by the ships of any other nationality from any European or American ports was taxed outrageously. [3] [7]
Macartney brought out with him and put in force an order in council concerning trade at the Cape of Good Hope. Goods imported from the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were to be admitted free of duty. Subjects of friendly powers were to be permitted to carry on trade in the colony; but all goods that were not the growth, produce, or manufacture of Great Britain and Ireland imported in foreign ships were to be subject to a duty of ten per cent upon their value. No goods could be imported from any place to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope except by the English East India Company. The only exception to the foreign-flag rule under Craig had been a Portuguese vessel from Mozambique, which put into Table Bay with three hundred and fifty slaves on board. Craig was of opinion that slaves were so greatly required for the extension of agriculture that he allowed this cargo to be landed and sold by auction on payment of the ordinary duty of £2 a head. [3]
From 1793 to 1797 there had been a complete lull in the Cape slave trade; the circumstances of the times putting a stop to all importation of human chattels. The labour market received a severe check, and clamour for servants became loud on all sides. In 1797, in consequence of the most urgent representations which had been made to him, Craig sanctioned the landing of those 350 slaves from the Portuguese vessel from Mozambique then at anchor in Table Bay. They were eagerly seized at public auction and at high prices. Very shortly after this he was succeeded by Macartney. From the new governor also the burgher senate sought permission to introduce further slaves from Mozambique, but he refused, as the burghers themselves put it, in a manner so grievous that they were deterred from ever expressly making again any representation. He was anxious as far as possible to prevent all communication or intercourse with Mozambique. Impressed nevertheless with the necessity of further slave labour, he became willing to try the experiment of importing slaves from the West Coast, and therefore gave permission to Hogan, who had already fitted out a slave ship, to obtain 400 slaves from those parts. The West Coast was chosen precisely because Mozambique was to be shut. A letter of the 29th of November 1797 sat with that permission; the ship’s later fortunes belong to another year. [3] [4]
No changes were made in any of the public institutions except the courts of justice. The high court was now reduced to a president and seven members, five of whom were to form a quorum. Under the former government the judges received no salaries, but half of their number held other offices, to which good incomes were attached. In the court as now constituted, the president — who was the senior member — received a salary of £400 a year, the three members next in order of seniority received each £200, and the four junior members each £100. In civil cases, when the amount in dispute was over £200, there was an appeal to a court consisting of the governor and lieutenant-governor; and, when the amount in dispute was over £500, there was a final appeal to the king in council. The torture of criminals and infliction of death in any other manner than by the English mode of execution had been provisionally forbidden by Craig, and his order upon these subjects was now confirmed. [3]
The powers of the minor courts to adjudicate in civil cases were enlarged: the court of commissioners for petty cases in Capetown to sums not exceeding £40, the courts of landdrost and heemraden of Stellenbosch and Swellendam to sums not exceeding £30, and the court of landdrost and heemraden of Graaff Reinet, on account of the great distance from the seat of government, to sums not exceeding £66 13s. 4d. The Castle of 1652 thus kept its high court, but the court was smaller, paid, and English in the mode of death. Produce the government needed could still be demanded at stated prices. The farmers had an excellent market provided by the shipping, a garrison of some five thousand soldiers, and a large naval establishment, with payment promptly made; but they had no more liberty of buying and selling than they had under the East India Company. Calendar 1797 therefore fixed, in local form, what the order in council had brought from London: British goods free, the East shut except to the English Company, Mozambique slaves refused, a West Coast experiment permitted, and a high court of eight men on colonial salaries. [3]
Bresler and Barrow — 30 July 1797
Frans Reinhard Bresler was instructed to return to Graaff Reinet and assume duty as landdrost. He had remained in Capetown awaiting Macartney’s arrival. With him was sent a guard of twelve dragoons, who were to remain at the drostdy as a garrison and to carry despatches. All arrears of land rents to the 16th of September 1795 were remitted. The former inhabitants of the fieldcornetcies of Zuurveld, Tarka, Zwagershoek, Sneeuwberg, and Nieuwveld, who had been driven from their homes by San or Xhosa, were to hold their farms free of rent for the next six years, provided they would return and resume occupation within four months. If the landdrost should consider it necessary to call out a commando against San, the farmers were ordered by proclamation to obey. The Xhosa in the colony were to be treated differently. [3] [4]
The landdrost was instructed to try to induce the Xhosa to return to their own country, and he was to be careful that no encroachment was made by Europeans on territory beyond the Fish river, that the white men then living beyond that river should come back to the colonial side, that all Xhosa in service with colonists should be discharged, and that no one should cross from either side of the Fish river to the other without special permission. In dealing with the Xhosa, the landdrost was instructed that he must only employ force when he was sure of success. He was to report upon the advisability or otherwise of removing the drostdy from the village of Graaff Reinet to the neighbourhood of Zwartkops River. Acknowledging the San to be difficult to maintain good order with without much bloodshed, they were to be persuaded to leave “the country they had overrun” and to retire to certain indefinite northern regions. In some secret instructions Bresler was to consider the advisability of removing the drostdy to Zwartkops, and, with a view of discovering jacobin machinations, to use his discretion in examining letters passing between the east and Capetown. [3] [4]
To avoid totally depending upon Bresler, and to discover how far the same objects might appear alike to British and Dutch eyes, Macartney sent with him Barrow, a gentleman of his own family, who was well qualified to observe, to judge, and to act, and whose journey, as he was known to be fond of natural history, passed for a tour, not of business, but of curiosity, science and botanical research. The letter to Henry Dundas was dated the 10th of July 1797. Uncertain of the reception which was likely to be accorded to the landdrost, whom the people had previously refused to acknowledge, the party was strengthened by the twelve dragoons. On the 30th of July Bresler, accompanied by Barrow, arrived at the drostdy of Graaff Reinet, and met with a friendly reception from a body of farmers who had assembled purposely to welcome him. It must have been somewhat surprising to these gentlemen on their arrival to have found everything as quiet and so little sign of rebellion as they did. On the following morning Gerotz transferred the office and the records, and Bresler assumed the duties of landdrost. In respectfully resigning his post in favour of the properly constituted officer, Gerotz spoke in behalf of the suffering inhabitants, drawing attention to the still deplorable state of the country in consequence of the continued ravages of the Xhosa. [3] [4]
The village as it then stood was an assemblage of mud huts placed at some distance from each other, in two lines, forming a kind of street. At the upper end stood the house of the landdrost, built also of mud, and a few miserable hovels that were intended as offices for the transaction of public business; most of these had tumbled in, and the rest were in so ruinous a condition as not to be habitable. The village was chiefly inhabited by mechanics and such as held some petty employment under the landdrost. Neither milk, nor butter, nor cheese, nor vegetables of any kind could be had upon any terms. There was neither butcher, nor chandler, nor grocer, nor baker. Every one had to provide for himself as well as he could. They had neither wine nor beer, and the chief beverage was the water of the Sunday River, which in the summer season was strongly impregnated with salt. The first houses of Graaff Reinet had been of the smallest, built with wattle and daub, upon which there had been no improvement for many years. The inhabitants, both of the town and of the distant parts of the district, were extremely poor; locusts, drought, and the continual depredations of San and Xhosa made it almost impossible to keep stock, and the too frequent calls upon their time to go on commando were not conducive to the continuous industry which agriculture demands. [4]
On being told that a commando was then being organised to recover some recently stolen cattle, Bresler gave orders for its disbandment, adding that he and Barrow were immediately setting out beyond the Fish to inquire into these matters. That intelligence was unwelcome to farmers who had hoped to profit by the incursion. A Khoikhoi police under English officers, organised to keep order and, if needed, put down rebellion, still sat as a grievance on the frontier: burghers treated it as a breach of their standing as white inhabitants, and as a violation of rights which had never sanctioned the employment of coloured military forces against burghers. The twelve dragoons at the drostdy were the visible English answer to both the commando and the police quarrel. Calendar 1797 thus put Bresler back in the mud house at the head of the street, Gerotz’s records in his hands, and a botanical tour on the road south toward Algoa Bay. [4] [7]
Eastern Tour — August 1797
After arranging matters at the drostdy, Bresler and Barrow proceeded on a tour of inspection of the district. The expedition was commenced on the 11th of August 1797. Two heemraden accompanied them, as it was the intention to administer the oath of allegiance in the more distant parts of the district. The route in the first instance was due south to Algoa Bay, which was reached in seven days. The brig Hope was found lying at anchor, having been sent from Simon’s Town by Admiral Pringle in order to give Barrow an opportunity of examining and reporting upon the possibilities of the bay. Some time was spent in exploring the surrounding country; journeying westward toward the Humansdorp country, Barrow examined the mineral deposits at the mouth of the Van Staaden’s River. Near the mouth, in the steep sides of a deep glen, several specimens of lead ore were found. The vein was about three inches wide and one inch thick, and appeared to increase both in width and thickness as it advanced under the stratum of rock. According to the assay of Major Van Dehn, 200 lb of ore contained 100 lb of pure lead and 8 oz of silver. The whole of the Zwartkops valley was, at that time, peopled by only four families. [3] [4]
On the 29th of August the party commenced the eastward journey, taking with them an old Khoikhoi, Willem Hasebek (Haasbeck), to act as interpreter, and as guides the farmers Jan du Plessis and Hendrik van Rensburg. They crossed the Sunday’s River, travelled through the Alexandria country, and encamped at the Bushman’s River. Crossing farther east, they proceeded to the Assegai Bush River and, in the vicinity of the later Salem country, found the last white inhabitant eastward. A number of waggons with their teams of oxen were awaiting them for the purpose of conveying them through the less travelled country beyond the Fish. At the Kariega they came upon a very large number of Xhosa who had fled from their own country some years before and had settled themselves in that part of the Zuurveld. Parties of the Amambala clan under the sons of Langa were met, and near to them the clans of the Amantinde, Imidange, and Amagwali, under Tshatsha and other captains. Farther eastward was a clan that had recently come to reside there, under a young chief named Jalusa, a near relative of Ndlambe. [3] [4]
All of these, on being requested to return to their own country, replied that they were willing to do so, but were afraid of Gaika. Three petty chiefs, asked whether they knew that they were breaking the treaty which fixed the Great Fish River as the boundary of the colony, are said to have replied that they were quite aware of it, but that they had come into the colony for the same reason as the colonists had gone beyond the Fish — to hunt for game. It further transpired that they had fled from their own country in order to be out of the reach of Gaika and were afraid to return, though they expressed a desire to be on friendly terms with that chief. Barrow told them he would shortly see Gaika and would then intercede for them to reoccupy their old haunts. The chief of whom they thus spoke was the son of Umlawu and grandson of Rarabe in the great line. He had recently come of age, according to Xhosa ideas, and had then claimed the position of chief of that section of the tribe over which his grandfather had ruled; but he had not succeeded in establishing himself in it without opposition. A large party was desirous that the regent Ndlambe should remain in power, and had aided him to resist Gaika in arms, but had been beaten. The clans in the Zuurveld preferred to acknowledge the superiority only of Kawuta, head of the Gcaleka branch of the tribe and representative of Tshawe in the great line, because in that case they would be much less subject to control. [3] [4]
Leaving the Kariega the route lay more towards the coast and through a country well populated. With some considerable difficulty they descended a steep and dangerous hill, crossed the Kowie River, and with almost greater difficulty ascended a hill on the opposite side — at the ebb and flow, just above the horse-shoe bend. Proceeding thence to the mouth of the Great Fish River, which was found to be impassable, they travelled for two days through the bushy country along its bank and effected a crossing at the first ford. Ascending the long and steep incline through the Fish River bush on the opposite bank, they had an easy journey over the flat country and from thence to Gaika’s great place near the Keiskamma. Between the Fish and Keiskamma rivers they found no inhabitants, as the former residents had recently crossed over to the Zuurveld. Bresler and Barrow visited Gaika at his kraal on the bank of a little stream flowing into the Keiskamma. Gaika stated that the clans in the Zuurveld were not his subjects, and that he had no control over them, but he would be glad to receive them as friends if they chose to return to their former homes. He stated also that he had been at war with his uncle Ndlambe, who had been assisted by Kawuta, but that he had been victorious and had taken Ndlambe prisoner. The captive chief was then residing at Gaika’s kraal with his wives and personal attendants, and was well treated, though he was not permitted to move about. [3] [4]
An agreement was made with Gaika that he should send a messenger with an offer of peace and friendship to the chiefs in the colony; that none of his subjects, on any pretence whatever, should have intercourse with the colonists, or cross the established boundary unless expressly directed to do so by him; and that he should keep up a friendly communication with the landdrost by sending to Graaff Reinet, yearly or oftener, one of his people, who should carry as a mark of office a brass-headed staff with the arms of the king of England engraven on it. The conference was considered to have been of a satisfactory nature. Gaika promised anything. Bresler next sent Du Plessis and Van Rensburg to Cungwa, who was living on the Bushman’s river, to try to persuade him to remove beyond the Kei. But the Xhosa in the Zuurveld had no intention of leaving it, and all the conferences and messages were useless. Retracing their steps and making observations on the flora and fauna of the country, Barrow and his party arrived back in Graaff Reinet on the 30th of September. The brass staff and the empty Zuurveld promises sat together: Gaika would receive the clans if they returned; the clans would not return while they feared him; and the four families of the Zwartkops valley still had Algoa Bay and the Hope for neighbours. [3] [4]
Harvest, Clergy, and Shipping — 1797
The harvest of 1797 was a tolerably good one, and food was again at a reasonable price. A contract for the supply of bread to the troops was taken at a penny a pound, and of meat at two pence and two-twenty-thirds of a penny a pound, payable in paper currency at the rate of four shillings for a rixdollar. The government permitted no provisions of any kind to be exported without special leave from the secretary’s office; and the prices of cattle and corn, meat and bread, were fixed just as in the olden times. There was an excellent market provided by the shipping, a garrison of five thousand soldiers, and a large naval establishment; and payment for supplies was promptly made by the government; but the farmers had no more liberty of buying and selling than they had under the East India Company. From the gardens of 1652 the roadstead had always been the reason for the station; in 1797 it was still the reason, only the flag and the contractor had changed. [3]
The revenue rose rapidly after 1796. Accounts were kept in rixdollars, here computed at the nominal value of four English shillings, though the real value, as determined by the rate of exchange, fluctuated so much that statistics in English money cannot be given with absolute accuracy. Between the date of the surrender of the colony to the British forces and the close of the eighteenth century seven hundred and forty-two vessels, exclusive of coasters, touched either at Table Bay or Simon’s Bay. Of these, four hundred and fifty-eight were English, one hundred and twenty-four were American, ninety-one were Danish, thirty-four were prizes to English men-of-war, and the remaining thirty-five belonged to various nations. The average number that touched yearly was one hundred and seventy-one. Calendar 1797 sat in the middle of that traffic: a year of British men-of-war, American traders, Danish neutrals, and prizes, all watering at the same bays that Van Riebeeck had chosen for the outward fleets. [3]
Graaff Reinet was not left long without a clergyman in prospect. Von Manger, who had retired from Graaff Reinet, objected to return to his duty there, and in consequence his salary was stopped at the end of June 1797. In August 1797 the reverend Hendrik Willem Ballot, recently minister at Malacca, arrived in South Africa in a Danish ship from the East Indies, and as he expressed a wish to be employed here, he was shortly afterwards sent to Roodezand to perform the duties temporarily while the reverend Vos went on a pastoral tour to the eastern frontier. A Danish flag in Table Bay or Simon’s Bay was already one of the ninety-one of the occupation’s count; Ballot came in on that neutrality and was posted inland while the east still had no settled minister of its own. [3]
The Castle still drew its meat and bread at stated prices; the secretary’s office still sat on export leave; the drostdy at Graaff Reinet still had no church of its own, only a promise in a Danish passenger and a stopped salary. Barrow’s tour had reported Algoa Bay, four families, lead in a glen, and a chief on the Keiskamma who would send a brass staff. The west had dinners at Paradise and dragoons on jacobin farms. Between those two halves of the colony the harvest of 1797 was good enough to cheapen bread, and the roadstead was busy enough to make the garrison’s contractor a better customer than the old Company had been — provided the farmer sold at the price the government named. [3]
Fleet Mutiny — October–November 1797
On the 7th of October 1797 a mutiny broke out in the English men-of-war lying in Simon’s Bay. The causes were the same as those which produced the mutiny in the fleet at Spithead — 15 April to 15 May of the same year — an account of which had been received in South Africa. Unfortunately, tidings of the mutiny in the fleet at the Nore — 20 May to 15 June — and of the terribly severe punishment of those who took part in it, had not reached the seamen in Simon’s Bay. Three officers were put ashore, but Admiral Pringle — who had succeeded Sir George Elphinstone on the station — was detained on board the Tremendous and was not allowed to send any other than open letters away. Macartney was preparing to occupy the heights above Simonstown with troops when on the 12th, under promise of a general amnesty, the seamen gave in their submission. [3]
But on the 9th of November, when the fleet was in Table Bay, the mutiny broke out again. The admiral was on shore at the time, and he and Macartney at once sent a message to the mutineers that if they did not surrender unconditionally within two hours, fire would be opened upon them from the batteries with red-hot shot. This message had the desired effect. The crew of the flagship Tremendous were the first to hoist the signal of submission and send the ringleaders ashore, and their example was followed shortly by the crews of the other ships. The Crescent was at anchor off Robben Island, and her crew, not being aware of what had happened, on the 10th of November sent her officers ashore and brought the ship up to the usual anchorage; but the same measure that had been employed against the others secured their surrender also. The punishment which followed was in those days considered moderate. [3]
In giving an account of these occurrences to the secretary of state, Macartney wrote that from the most minute investigation of the second mutiny he could not discover that there was the shadow of a grievance to be pleaded in its alleviation. There is no special information in the Cape records concerning the seamen in Pringle’s fleet; throughout the British navy at that time the sailors had many and serious grievances. If nothing else, a considerable number of those in the fleet on the Cape station were pressed men, taken out of merchant ships — whether they were willing or not — in exchange for others obtained from prizes. In Macartney’s opinion that was not a grievance. With men of their class he had very little sympathy indeed. The same governor who could not find words too strong for cruelty toward Khoikhoi dependents on frontier farms quoted his own letter upon the mutiny with satisfaction, and did not set the pressed sailor beside the servant whose treatment he condemned. [3]
The year therefore closed as it had opened, from the gardens of 1652: a civilian governor in the garden house, a lieutenant-governor in the military chair, an oath pressed with dragoons, an order in council on the custom-house, a landdrost back at Graaff Reinet with twelve dragoons and a botanical secretary, a chief on the Keiskamma holding his uncle and promising a brass staff, a good harvest at a fixed price, a Danish clergyman at Roodezand, and a fleet that had mutinied twice in the bays that watered the outward ships. Macartney was over sixty years of age, and was subject to severe attacks of gout; the first summer of his residence had tried him severely. The next hot season, and the post, the northern boundary, and his own departure, belong to 1798. [3]