CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE 
 
 Ordered by the House of Assembly to be printed. 
 JULY, 1860 . 
 
 CAPE TOWN : 
 
 SAUL SOLOMON AND CO., STEAM PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1860 . 
 
 A. l*-’«0 KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 
 
 968.045 
 
 C239 
 
 R425 
 
 1860 
 
DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 foilw ~j 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE'. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 K 
 
 or Tiir 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE 
 
 Ordered by the House of Assembly to be printed. 
 JULY, 1860 . 
 
 CAPE TOWN : 
 
 SAUL SOLOMON AND CO., STEAM PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1860. 
 
 A. 13—’60. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/reportofselectco01cape 
 
Ill 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE appointed by the HOUSE of 
 ASSEMBLY on the 31st May, 1860, consisting of 
 Messrs. Walter, Bosman, Scanlen, Stanton, and T. H. 
 Bowker, upon the CLAIMS for COMPENSATION 
 for LOSSES by KAFIR WARS, with power to 
 take evidence and call for papers. 
 
 Your committee, having carefully investigated the records 
 and proceedings of Government on the subjectof compensation 
 for losses by Kafir wars, and having taken the evidence of 
 several of the most competent witnesses, who have been great 
 losers by the unprovoked inroads of the Kafirs into the 
 frontier districts of the colony, find that the subject resolves 
 itself into three distinct periods, namely, the irruption of 
 1835, that of 1846, and the rebellion of 1851. 
 
 Your committee find that at the close of each of these 
 disastrous invasions the Government appears to have made 
 peace with the Kafir tribes without enforcing anything like 
 that full restitution which the offending tribes were capable 
 of affording; and the suffering colonists, having no control 
 regarding the premature cessation of hostilities, were obliged 
 to return to their desolated houses, with little more than 
 promises of compensation, which were never fulfilled; and acts 
 for their relief which were, after a time, indefinitely postponed, 
 and which yet remain to be carried into completion. 
 
 From the records of the first period, the irruption of 1835, 
 your committee find that the Governor of the colony, Sir 
 Benjamin D’Urban, so far from considering that any blame 
 rested on the. sufferers, judged it incumbent on the Govern¬ 
 ment to make good the losses to which the unoffending 
 colonists had been subjected; and he earnestly recommended, 
 
IV 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 in his dispatches, the Home Government to compensate the 
 sufferers; a recommendation which they long believed would 
 have been complied with. 
 
 Your committee find that after a partial compensation of 
 fifteen per cent, on the amount of their losses had been 
 awarded (by an issue of certificates to purchase cattle to that 
 amount, at the Government sales of captured cattle), to 824 
 individuals or families, there remained a balance, which the 
 Home Government were expected to provide for, of not less 
 than £291,392 10s., for which sum the claimants were in 
 number about 3,000 persons. 
 
 It appears to your committee that the Colonial Minister, 
 Lord Glenelg, by his annulment of the measures of Sir 
 Benjamin D’Urban, placed the Home Government in a 
 peculiar position as regards the claims of the sufferers to full 
 compensation, which your committee recommend should be 
 brought to the notice of the Home Government, through his 
 Excellency the Governor, in order that her Majesty’s Govern¬ 
 ment may make such provision for the relief of the sufferers 
 as may be deemed consistent with the claims of justice. 
 
 Your committee find that previous to the second Kafir 
 irruption, of 1846, the inhabitants of the frontier, both 
 Dutch and English, repeatedly brought to the notice of 
 Government the insecure and dangerous state of the border 
 relations, which complaints were finally denied and disregarded 
 by the proceedings of Government in the Legislative 
 Council, on the 7th October, 1845. 
 
 Your committee find that, notwithstanding the assurances 
 of Government above alluded to, the Kafir tribes made their 
 long-expected irruption into the rich frontier districts of the 
 colony early in the following year, sweeping off and destroying 
 many lives, and £525,592 11s. 2d. worth of stock and 
 property. 
 
 In consequence of the representations of the Governors, 
 Sir Peregrine Maitland and Sir Henry Pottinger, Mr. 
 Richard Burgass was appointed by the latter to investigate 
 the claims, preparatory to an adjustment being made, in 
 concurrence with the advice of Earl Grey, the Colonial 
 Minister, “ That such compensation as the Kafirs were 
 capable of affording should he required.” 
 
 Upon the removal of Sir Henry Pottinger, Sir Harry 
 Smith, shortly after assuming the government of the colony, 
 
REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 V 
 
 in accordance with the dispatch of Earl Grey, published the 
 government minute, headed “ Compensation Claims,” dated 
 the 27th June, 1848, in which he set apart the newly 
 acquired lands of Victoria and Albert for the purpose of 
 awarding compensation to the sufferers by the recent war of 
 1846, which minute being approved by the Legislative 
 Council, a commission was appointed for the purpose of 
 investigating and reporting on the claims, which were found, 
 after a severe scrutiny, to amount to no less than 
 £406,002 7s. 6d. 
 
 The commissioners of the board, the Honourable Messrs. 
 William Cock and Robert Godlonton, Esquires, members of 
 the Legislative Council, after a most careful investigation, 
 recommended the following plan, as best suited to meet the 
 object in view : 
 
 1. That certificates be granted to the claimants, showing the 
 amount of their claims. 
 
 2. That these certificates be available to the purchase of the 
 alienated lands, and in no other way, under such conditions or in 
 such proportions to the amount awarded, as might be determined. 
 
 3. That the alienated or forfeited land be sold at a long credit— 
 say in annual instalments extending over from 5 to 10 years—a 
 provisional title being given, the actual validity of which to be 
 contingent npon the payment of the purchase-money, and an 
 annual quitrent, to be dated from the day of sale. 
 
 4. That all expenses of survey and other preliminary outlay be 
 paid in cash by the respective purchasers at the time of sale. 
 
 5. That a Land Board be appointed for the management of this 
 particular duty, the civil commissioner of the alienated lands to 
 be chairman, and a competent surveyor to be attached thereto for 
 the time being. 
 
 Your committee find that by a letter dated the 11th April, 
 1850, acknowledging the receipt of the board’s report, and 
 the accompanying records of the approved claims, the 
 Colonial Secretary, Mr. Montagu, by the direction of the 
 Governor, informs the chairman of the board as follows: 
 
 “ In acknowledging the receipt of your letters of the 28th 
 February and the 19th ultimo, together with the reports of the 
 board appointed to examine the claims of the sufferers by the late 
 Kafir war, I am directed by his Excellency the Governor to 
 convey to you and the other members of the board his thanks for 
 the services you have so readily and ably rendered. 
 
 “ Adhering to the principles laid down in his Excellency’s 
 minute, published in the Government Gazette, 29th June, 1848, 
 
VI 
 
 REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 I am instructed to inform you that the claims detailed in the board’s 
 report cannot be satisfied until sufficient lands shall have been 
 sold to meet them, after payment of all preferent demands. 
 
 “ His Excellency had hoped that this would have been the 
 case ere now, but the results of the land sales which have hitherto 
 taken place here greatly disappointed him. Under these circum¬ 
 stances, his Excellency has no other course to pursue but to 
 postpone consideration of the claims which form the subject of the 
 board’s report, until the demand for land becoming greater, a fund 
 may be created for their satisfaction.” 
 
 JOHN MONTAGU, Secretary to Government. 
 
 y 
 
 In the opinion of your committee it appears that nothing 
 further can be required for establishing the validity of these 
 claims for 1846. The further postponement of their settle¬ 
 ment appears to be unnecessary, and the committee would 
 recommend that measures should be taken to ascertain what 
 portions of the lands so set apart are yet unapplied to any 
 other purpose of Government, in order that the mode of 
 distribution intended might be carried out, without further 
 unnecessary delay, and, in case the remainder of these lands 
 should be found insufficient, your committee recommend 
 that such other lands as may be available for the purpose 
 should be substituted for those applied to other purposes by 
 the Government. Your committee would recommend that 
 the High Commissioner should be applied to, to apportion 
 any sufficient part of the lands taken from the Kafirs as may 
 be required for the purpose. 
 
 Your committee are aware that a very large extent of the 
 lands set apart for the purpose of meeting the claims for 1846 
 have been successfully applied to the general defence of the 
 frontier, by the measures of the late Sir George Cathcart. 
 
 Your committee would recommend that, the object of Sir 
 George Cathcart in the distribution of those lands being 
 entirely defensive, the claims upon them for the purposes of 
 compensation might be retained to meet the claims of any 
 grantee, so far as the value of the grant at the time of 
 occupation might cover the same at a valuation of fifteen 
 shillings per morgen ; this arrangement your committee con¬ 
 sider, under the circumstances, as reasonable, while it would 
 absorb a large portion of the claims that might otherwise 
 have to be provided for. 
 
REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 In reference to the third period, the rebellion of 1851, 
 your committee cannot but consider the claims of the 
 sufferers as equal, if not stronger, than those of former wars, 
 which appear, as beforementioned, to have been fully provided 
 for by the measures of the Government in 1848. 
 
 Your committee would recommend the appointment of a 
 commission, to investigate and report upon the return and 
 extent of the claims of the sufferers by the late rebellion, in 
 1851, as has been the practice of the Government on former 
 occasions. 
 
 In all distributions or sales of land for the purposes of 
 compensation, your committee would strongly recommend 
 the adherence to the defensive principles of the system laid 
 down by the late Sir George Cathcart:—of armed occupation, 
 annual muster of grantees, and an annual quitrent upon 
 the lands, of not more than five pounds per 1,000 acres.— 
 Your committee consider that if the recommendations it has 
 suggested, which they think in justice should be awarded to 
 the claimants, were properly carried out, they would not 
 only meet all just requirements, but place the frontier and 
 the whole colony in so secure a position, that the advantages 
 arising therefrom would be incalculable. 
 
 T. H. BOWKER, Chairman. 
 
 Committee Rooms, House of Assembly, 
 
 19th July, 1860. 
 
, 
 
 f(. ' ... a 
 
 l: '■ ■ ! Vi on it / ::n.V, 
 
 : u; 
 
 . 
 
IX 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 Thursday, May, I860, 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. Walter, | Mr. T. H. Bovvker. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, 
 
 Moved by Mr. Walter, and seconded by Mr. Stanton, that Mr. 
 Bowker be the chairman of this committee. 
 
 Committee in deliberation. 
 
 Thursday, 7 ih June, 1860. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. T. II. Bowker (Chairman), 
 Mr. Walter, Mr. Scanlen, 
 
 Mr. Bosnian, Mr. Stanton. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, member of the committee, examined. 
 Mr. Scanlen, member of the committee, examined. 
 
 Monday, 11 tli June, 1860. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. Stanton, Mr. Scanlen, 
 
 Mr. Bosman, Mr. Walter. 
 
 Lieutenant Daniel, formerly of Sidbury Park, called in and 
 examined. 
 
X 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 Tuesday, 19 th June, 1860. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. T. H„ Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. Stanton, 
 Mr. Scanlen, 
 
 Mr. Walter. 
 
 Mr. L. H. Meurant, Civil Commissioner of Cradock, called ii\ 
 and examined. 
 
 Friday 27th June, 1860. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. Stanton, Mr. Bosnian, 
 
 Mr. Scanlen, Mr. Walter. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Fair, formerly a resident on the Bushman’s Fiver; 
 called in and examined. 
 
 Friday, 29 th June, 1860. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker, | Mr. Scanlen. 
 
 Mr. T» H. Bowker, member of the committee, examined; 
 
 Tuesday, 1 7th July, 1860. 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 Mr. Walter, | Mr. Bosman: 
 
 Draft report read and adopted; 
 
1 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 
 
 Thursday, 7th June, 1860. 
 
 present: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. Walter, 
 Mr. Bosnian, 
 
 Mr. Scanlen, 
 Mr. Stanton. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, Member of the Committee, examined. 
 
 1. Chairman .] You were in business in the neighbourhood Mr. Stanton. 
 of Graham’s Town at the commencement of the war in 7th<Tl “ 1860 
 1835 ?—Yes ; I was in business there as a butcher. 
 
 2. You can, therefore, give valuable evidence on the 
 subject of the Kafir war, and the intentions and acts of the 
 Government at that time ?—At the commencement of the 
 war, when the inhabitants had fled to Graham's Town for 
 protection, all superfluous cattle in the town were taken 
 forcible possession of by order of the Government, and 
 driven off to the u Salem Hill River,” and various other 
 places where they had depots. The cattle taken from the 
 enemy from time to time was added to these depots. The 
 Commissariat becoming short of cattle for the supply of the 
 troops and levies, I was selected for the purpose of proceed¬ 
 ing to those depots to select such cattle as were suitable for 
 slaughter. On one occasion I went to Salem, where I selected 
 several hundred head of captured cattle. Amongst these I 
 distinguished the brands of about nine farmers, whom I knew 
 to be in Graham’s Town in a destitute condition. Previous 
 to the cattle reaching the town, I informed these parties that 
 a number of cattle had come in amongst the captured cattle 
 which had their brands. Several of these persons came up 
 to meet the cattle, and were in the act, in front of the Com¬ 
 missariat office, of selecting their cattle by the brands. Mr. 
 Commissary Palmer remonstrated with them, and asked me 
 
 A. 19—’GO. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION—1. 
 
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. Stanton. 
 tli Juno, 1860. 
 
 O 
 
 what the people were about. I informed him that they were 
 selecting their cattle by their brands. He told the people 
 that they could not be allowed to meddle with their cattle, as 
 they had given in their claims for their losses, and, conse¬ 
 quently, the cattle were to be left with the Government, as it 
 would all be merged into the general compensation. 
 
 3. Mr. Scanlen .] Did he say that they had given in their 
 claims, or that they could do so ?—They had given in their 
 claims, and that it would all merge in the general compensa¬ 
 tion. The cattle were then handed over by the Commissariat 
 to the contractor, Mr. Cock, who took them away to be 
 slaughtered for the use of the troops. 
 
 4. Mr. Walterl] Was the contractor charged with these 
 cattle ?—That I cannot state positively, from my own know¬ 
 ledge. 1 may presume so far, having been a contractor, they 
 charged them to me when they were delivered. 
 
 5. Was it the custom of the Government to charge it to 
 the contractors ?—It was their custom to charge the con¬ 
 tractors with any stock thpy received on account. 
 
 6. Mr. Scanlen .] What became of the remainder of those 
 cattle ?—They were sold by the Government. 
 
 7. What was done with the proceeds?—I am aware that 
 weekly sales were made by the Government of all captured 
 cattle, out of which there was a certain per centage paid to 
 many of the claimants. I always thought it was eight per 
 cent., but I find by the documents that it was fifteen. 
 
 8. Mr. Walter.) Were you a sufferer in that Kafir war?— 
 Not to any great extent. I only lost forty head of cattle. 
 
 9. Did you and others make an application to the Govern¬ 
 ment of the colony for compensation ?—Yes, and I received 
 my per centage of compensation. 
 
 10. Did you make any further application?—Yes; by 
 memorial to the Home Government. 
 
 11. Do you recollect what reply was given by the Home 
 Government?—I cannot call to mind the tenor of the reply. 
 
 12. Mr. Bosman .] Do you happen to know what decision 
 the Home Government came to on the subject?—The Gov¬ 
 ernment of the colony considered that we were entitled to 
 compensation, and we were induced to believe, for a long 
 time after, that we should get compensation. 
 
 13. Mr. Wader.) Do you know whether Sir Benjamin 
 D’Urban recommended these claims of the people?—Most 
 
 . decidedly. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 3 
 
 14. Was any land taken from the Kafirs?—Yes; a very 
 large extent of country, now called British Kaffraria, was ; 
 taken from them ; the land was taken up to the Kei. 
 
 15. Mr. Bosman.] Were those lands added to the colony? 
 —I have reason to believe they were, as many of those lands 
 were granted to colonists. They were granted by Sir 
 Benjamin D’Urban out of what was called the neutral 
 territory. 
 
 16. Mr. Walter. \ Did you obtain a grant?—Yes; about 
 3,000 morgen. 
 
 17. In satisfaction of your claim?—No; for services per¬ 
 formed. I served during the whole of the war. 
 
 18. How long did you retain possession of that land 
 granted to you?—About six months. 
 
 19. Was it taken from you?—Yes; by the reversion of 
 Sir Benjamin D’Urban’s measures by Sir AndriesStockenstrom. 
 
 20. And sanctioned by the Home Government?—Yes. 
 
 21. Mr. Bosman .] At that time what became of the terri¬ 
 tory taken in?—It was given up to the Kafirs ; in fact, the 
 Kafirs were brought back to the Fish River. 
 
 22 Chairman .] Are you aware that Sir Benjamin 
 D’Urban issued a proclamation, annexing the whole of the 
 country from the Fish River to the Kei ?—Yes; I am 
 aware of it. The Kei became the boundary between the 
 Kafirs and the colony. 
 
 23. Was it a generally understood thing that compensation 
 would be given?—-I am aware that the people were for 
 several years under the impression that they would be com¬ 
 pensated by the Home Government. 
 
 24. Not from any other source ?—Not at that time. 
 
 25. Mr. Walter .] Do you know any parties in Cape Town 
 who could give any evidence with regard to the compensation 
 claims of 1835?—Yes; Mr. R. Daniels and Mr. Meurant. 
 
 26. Was not Mr. Stretch on the frontier at that time ?—I 
 am not aware whether he was there in 1835, but in 1846 he 
 was there. 
 
 27. Was this compensation question taken up by any com¬ 
 mittee on the frontier?—Yes; it was taken up strongly, and 
 strong resolutions and petitions were drawn up and sent home. 
 
 Mr. Scanlen, Member of the Committee, examined. 
 
 28. Mr. Walter .] You were in the Kafir war of 1835 ? — 
 Yes; I was resident on the frontier. 
 
 Mr. Stanton. 
 th June, 1860. 
 
 Mr. Scanlen. 
 
4 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE T1IE 
 
 Mr. Scanien. 29. Chairman.] On what part of the frontier did you 
 th June, i860, reside ?—Near the Fish River, in Lower Albany. 
 
 30. Were you a sufferer by the breaking out of the war 
 in 1835?—Yes; I was then a farmer there, and lost the 
 whole of my property, and had my house burned down. 
 
 31. Did you obtain any compensation?—Not a penny. 
 
 32. Did you make any application ?—In accordance with 
 the Government notice, I filed my claim with the compensa¬ 
 tion commissioner, Mr. Hudson. 
 
 33. Then your claim was filed with others?—Yes; and I 
 never even received the dividend awarded to others. 
 
 34. Did you make any application yourself to the Colonial 
 Government for compensation ?—No ; never to the Colonial 
 Government. I signed the petitions that were framed. 
 
 35. Why did you not prosecute your claims?—I was 
 absent on commando. 
 
 36. But afterwards ?—I was not present, and no one 
 appeared on my behalf to receive the dividend out of the 
 sale of the captured cattle. 
 
 37. Mr. Bosnian. ] Did you receive the grant of a farm in 
 1835?—Yes. 
 
 38. What do you consider it was granted for ?—I look 
 upon it as both for compensation for losses and services 
 rendered to Government. 
 
 39. Was the grant made out?—-Yes. 
 
 40 What became of the grant?—It was taken from me 
 in consequence of the cancelling of the D’Urban system by 
 the Home Government. I received a private letter from Sir 
 Benjamin, who regretted the circumstance very much. 
 
 41. Mr. Walter h\ Where was that farm situated?—In the 
 neutral territory, on the banks of the Keiskama. 
 
 42. Are you aware of any committee that has been 
 appointed to receive the claims of the sufferers?—There was 
 a committee appointed in Graham’s Town to collect the 
 claims of the sufferers, and represent their cases to the Home 
 Government, which they did by petition. 
 
 43. What was the amount of those claims?—I cannot 
 charge my memory with it. 
 
 44. Are you aware what decision the Home Government 
 came to ?—1 am not aware what the decision was. 
 
 45. Was it generally understood that this committee took 
 charge of the whole question on behalf of the sufferers ?—• 
 Yes. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 
 
 46. Is that the reason, then, why you did not prosecute Mr. Scania. 
 your individual claim?—Yes; I thought that if the whole 7th June, i 860 , 
 thing were carried through, all would be compensated alike. 
 
 47. Some of the sufferers received a dividend?—Yes; a 
 dividend of fifteen per cent, from the sale of captured cattle. 
 
 48. Was any land taken from the Kafirs in the war of 
 1835?—None, eventually. Shortly after I returned to the 
 frontier. Seeing no prospect of any safe settlement, or pro¬ 
 tection to life and property, I left, never to return. 
 
 49. Chairman .] Was not there, for a long time after the 
 war, a strong expectation that the Home Government would 
 compensate the claimants?—Yes; I believe, until very lately, 
 the sufferers of the war of 1835 had a strong expectation 
 that their claims would be met. 
 
 50. Mr. Walter .] Are there many of those sufferers in 
 distress at the present time ?—No ; none that 1 know of. 
 
 51. Chairman .] Was not there a great dispersion of the 
 inhabitants of the frontier, in consequence of the reversion 
 of the D’Urban system?—Yes; a great number left the 
 frontier. 
 
 52. Mr. Walter .J Where are those parties gone who left 
 the frontier on the war of 1835 ?—-A great number went to 
 the Orange River country, now called the Free State, others 
 settled in the lower districts of Cradock and the Graaff- 
 Reinet and Colesberg districts, and some retired to the 
 western districts. 
 
 53. And in consequence of their leaving the frontier it 
 became more exposed ?—Yes. 
 
 Committee adjourned. 
 
 Monday , ll?/t June, 1860. 
 
 present: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 Mr. Stanton, Mr. Scanlen, 
 
 Mr. Bosman, Mr. Walter. 
 
 Lieutenant Daniel , formerly of Sidbury Park, called in and 
 
 examined. 
 
 54. Chairman.} You were established as an extensive 
 sheep-farmer at Sidbury Park in the year 1835 ?—1 was. 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 11th June. 
 1860 . 
 
Lieutenant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 11th June, 
 1860. 
 
 G MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 55 . What amount of stock had you at that time ?-—About 
 5.000 head of sheep, 150 head of cattle, and 25 horses. 
 
 56. Your sheep were highly-improved sheep ?—They were 
 merinoes, worth fully £1 each. I had also many imported 
 sheep, Saxons, &c., worth £20 or £22 each. 
 
 57 . Were you at your farm at the time of the Kafir out¬ 
 break in lb35?—No ; I was at Graafi'-Reinet, attending the 
 sale of some of my rams, when the outbreak took place. I 
 had sent down some 300 for sale. Two days afterwards, 
 before I could effect a sale, a panic broke out; everyone 
 was in confusion, preventing’ any possibility of sale. 1 was 
 compelled to leave the rams in charge, and, at the request of 
 the civil commissioner, conveyed a quantity of ammunition 
 to Somerset, no wagons being procurable by the Govern¬ 
 ment,—such was the state of alarm. This ammunition was 
 sent for the use of the inhabitants, who had taken refuge in 
 the church, with scarcely a charge of gunpowder amongst 
 them. From Somerset I made my way through the Zuur- 
 berg, but finding that the Kafirs had already occupation of 
 the road, I, by a circuitous route, met my family at a place 
 called the Coega, on the main road to Port Elizabeth. From 
 my family I learnt that my sheep had been sent from the 
 farm some days before, but it was ascertained that the Kafirs 
 prevented all attempts at getting forward, so they were sent 
 back. In the meanwhile, 1 went to Port Elizabeth with my 
 family and placed them in lodging, and I hired twelve men 
 to accompany me to bring my sheep down. We met the 
 sheep, cattle, and horses at Quaggas Flat, in charge of Mr. 
 Robert Palmer. By short journeys, and under great diffi¬ 
 culty, we brought the flocks down to Mr. Parkins’ farm, on 
 the flats near Port Elizabeth, after losing a great number of 
 cows, calves, and sheep in the Addo Bush. In Port Elizabeth 
 I met Sir Benjamin D’Urban, who had just then arrived, 
 who anxiously asked me whether I had saved my valuable 
 flock. I replied, “ Very nearly so.” He said, “ Then you 
 have done the most important service to the colony ; remain 
 with them a3 long as you like to take care of them, and when 
 your services are required elsewhere you shall hear from me.” 
 
 58. Will you state why Sir Benjamin D’Urban exhibited 
 so much solicitude with regard to your sheep?—Because I 
 was at that time the largest proprietor of pure-bred sheep in 
 the colony, and was supplying about 500 fine woolled rams 
 through the various districts of the colony yearly ; —my sheep 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. / 
 
 were, in fact, the first by which the wool of the colony was 
 so greatly improved. 
 
 £9. After the close of the war, at what amount do you 
 compute your loss?—1 estimate it at about £750. My farm- 
 buildings were destroyed, furniture broken, and general 
 destruction lay around the place. 
 
 60. Mr. Waller.] Did you send in an account of your 
 losses to Government?—Yes ; in common with others. 
 
 61. To the commission ?—Yes; to the Government com¬ 
 mission. 
 
 62. Did you receive any answer from the commission?— 
 Yes; simply acknowledging the receipt. 
 
 63. Chairman .] Were you in expectation at the time to 
 be compensated for your losses?—Decidedly. 
 
 64. Did you receive any compensation on account of those 
 losses?—Yes; six old Kafir cows and an old bull, which I 
 gave away. 
 
 65. Mr. Walter.\ Did you not receive a per centage on 
 your claim ?—Yes ; but there was nothing to be divided. 
 
 66 . Are you aware whether a committee was appointed, in 
 Graham's Town or elsewhere, for the purpose of collecting 
 those claims ?—I cannot recollect ; I w r as so far from 
 Graham’s Town at that time. 
 
 67. Mr. Stanton .] Did you ever, after that time, have an 
 interview with Sir Benjamin D’Urban upon compensation?— 
 Yes. 1 also heard that there would be compensation for 
 losses sustained ; indeed, I never had any doubt in my own 
 mind about it. 
 
 68 . Mr. Walter. ] Did I understand you to say that the 
 Home Government had promised to entertain that claim ?— 
 I stated that the representation was sent to the Home Govern¬ 
 ment strongly recommended. 
 
 69. Mr. Stajiton.] After that, did you ever visit Graham’s 
 Town during the war?—No ; I did not. 
 
 70. Do you know anything of the depots formed for the 
 captured cattle brought out of Kafirland ?—I believe there 
 were several places where depots were formed ; one, I know, 
 was formed at Quaggas Flat. 
 
 71. In any other place that you can name?—No. 
 
 72. Are you aware how the cattle were disposed of that 
 were brought to those depots?—Part of them were sold, and 
 the proceeds divided amongst those who had lost their cattle; 
 but it amounted to a trifle, or nothing at all. 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Daaiel. 
 
 11th June, 
 1860. 
 
8 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 ) 1th June, 
 18G0. 
 
 73. Arp you aware of any of the cattle being; applied to 
 the use of the troops and levies ?—I do not know ; I was too 
 remote from the place. 
 
 74. Was there a general feeling at that time amongst the 
 sufferers that they would be compensated ?—I never saw 
 a person who had any doubt about it, from the representa¬ 
 tions held out to them by Government. 
 
 75. Can you state what led them particularly to believe 
 that they would be compensated? — It being no fault of 
 their own, of course they naturally expected that they 
 would be compensated. There was not sufficient attention 
 paid by the Government to the representations made that 
 the frontier was in a dangerous state, and that the Kafirs 
 were travelling with arms in their hands. 
 
 76. Do you consider that any blame was to be attached to 
 the authorities previous to the breaking out of the war, for 
 not taking notice of those representations?—Yes: I made 
 representations myself. 
 
 77. Who did you make them to ?—Some time before the war 
 broke out, nearly twenty Kafirs came to my place, all armed. 
 They came to me with the pretence of hiring themselves out, 
 and asked me if I did not want Kafir servants. I was rather 
 in want of servants, but they refused all the offers made to 
 them, and not one of them would stay. I found out after¬ 
 wards that they went to Sand Flat, and immediately war 
 broke out. I made a representation of this to Government, 
 but it was not attended to. 
 
 78. To whom did you make it?—To Colonel Somerset. 
 
 79. In Graham’s down ?—Yes. 
 
 80. Did Colonel Somerset at that time express any fears 
 of the war breaking out ?—I rather suspect he did, for I 
 know that representations were made to him from other 
 quarters as well. I thought it a very extraordinary thing 
 that those Kafirs should come to me armed with muskets ; it 
 was an unusual thing. It happened about ten days or a 
 fortnight previous to the war breaking out, and of course, as 
 soon as the war broke out, those fellows started up in the 
 colony, burning and destroying everything. 
 
 81. Mr. Scanlen.] Was it not a generally understood thing, 
 when Government located the settlers in 1820 on the frontier, 
 that life and property would be protected by the Government ? 
 —Yes ; there is no doubt about that. We came under that 
 impression ; otherwise we would never have gone there. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 
 
 9 
 
 82. it was guaranteed to them previous to leaving Eng¬ 
 land ?—Yes. 1 asked the Under Secretary, Mr. Goulburn, 
 about it, and he said, “You will be all right enough; you 
 are going out under protection of Government. 
 
 83. Now, fir a series of years previous to the war of 1835 
 breaking out, was not a regular system of murder and dep¬ 
 redation carried out on the whole of the frontier by the 
 Kafirs?—Yes; there is no doubt about it, and, though I was 
 so far removed from them, I barely escaped. 
 
 84. And no effectual remedy was provided against this by 
 Government? — No; scarcely any notice was taken of it. 
 
 85. Mr. Walter .] Do you recollect what troops there 
 were on the frontier?—I cannot say for certain ; there were 
 very few regiments there. 
 
 8 G. Were the troops sufficient for the defence of the 
 frontier at that time?—No; there was a proof of that when 
 the war broke out. The Government could not even main¬ 
 tain their posts. 
 
 87. Then neither yourself nor the committee appointed by 
 the inhabitants to claim compensation from Government ever 
 obtained a direct promise, either from the Colonial Govern¬ 
 ment or the Home Government, that their claims would be 
 satisfied ?—I imagine that there was an answer, to the effect 
 that the losses would be compensated by the Home Govern¬ 
 ment. I he Home Government never objected to it, decidedly. 
 
 88 . Do you know who is in possession of that communi¬ 
 cation ?—No; but I think it w'as the late Mr T. Phillips 
 who told me about it. I do not know much about it, except 
 that the reply was favourable. I was a long way from 
 Graham’s down at the time. 
 
 89. Are you au are whether any application was made 
 recently to the Home Government?—Yes; petitions were 
 sent home from time to time. 
 
 90. From individuals or the committee?—From indi¬ 
 viduals, and a general petition as w'ell. 
 
 91. Are you aware of the nature of those communications? 
 —It was left to the Government here by the Home Govern¬ 
 ment ; there was no objection on the part of the Home 
 Government 
 
 92. Are you aware whether any accurate returns of losses 
 have been sent to the Home Government, either through the 
 
 7 O 
 
 Colonial Government or otherwise?—Yes; there is no 
 doubt about it. 
 
 A. 19.-’lid. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION— i. C 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 11th June, 
 1860. 
 
10 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Lieutenant 93 ]\j r Scanlcn.'] Have you heard of any acts of violence 
 •— or oppression on the part ot the colonists before the war of 
 
 n, 'is60 Um ’ 1835, to cause the outbreak of the Kafirs ?—No; never. On 
 the contrary, they were generally well treated. 
 
 94. Chairman.'] Will you give the committee some infor¬ 
 mation of your losses in the war of J 846 ? —Between the 
 wars of 1835 and 1846 I imported several Australian and 
 Saxon merino sheep, which cost me £2,680 during the ten 
 years. At the breaking out of the war I was reduced to 
 poverty. I lost 4 horses of the value of £60 ; 102 head of 
 cattle, value £360; 200 Australian rams, value £600 ; 300 
 Australian ewes, value £600; 2,000 fine-wooled sheep, 
 value £2,000. Through these losses there was a common 
 loss of lambs and wool of not less value than £2,000; then 
 I paid, for the defence of my place, the sum of £200 ; alto¬ 
 gether my loss amounted to £6,910. There were also 22,600 
 sheep, belonging to other parties, on my place, and 2,000 
 head of cattle, and my sheep were consequently starved. I 
 had a flock of sheep on an adjoining farm, of which the 
 Kafirs took away 800, and all these are included in the 
 estimates of my losses. 
 
 95. Chairman .] You are aware that a commission was 
 appointed in Sir Harry Smith’s time, to take an account of 
 the losses ?—Yes. 
 
 96. Mr. Stanton. ] The object of that commission was to 
 compensate for losses ?—Yes. I remember perfectly well that 
 the commission would not admit or take any claims, except 
 for actual losses proved to have been caused by the Kafirs. 
 
 97. Chairman .] Can you give the amount of the claim 
 you sent in to the commissioners ?—No ; because 1 was 
 quite careless about it when 1 saw that the whole of my 
 claim would not be admitted, because it was impossible for 
 me to state what the Kafirs had taken away. 
 
 98. Are you aware that at that time the Government 
 intended to compensate the losers with colonial land on the 
 frontier?—Yes; it was spoken of, and that the farms were to 
 be sold for that purpose at a nominal price. I should have 
 been glad to have secured land in compensation for my 
 losses; it would have been a great assistance. 
 
 99. Mr. Walter. ] A committee was appointed to collect 
 claims for losses in the war of 1846?—Yes; and several 
 meetings were held at Graham’s Town, but I never attended 
 any of them. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 1 1 
 
 100 . Was it the same committee of 1835?—Some of the 
 members, I dare say. 
 
 101 . Are you aware of any of the proceedings of that 
 committee ?—No. 
 
 102. Are you aware of any promises made on the part 
 of Government to that committee ?—Yes; there was a 
 correspondence between the Colonial and the Home Govern¬ 
 ments, and in a dispatch from Earl Grey it was stated that it 
 was in accordance with the wishes of the Home Government 
 that compensation should be given for losses. 
 
 103. Chairman .] It was owing to your losses in the war 
 of 1846 that you broke up your establishment?—Yes. My 
 sheep never recovered ; my losses were very great, for a finer 
 flock of sheep never was seen. 
 
 104. Mr. Stanton .] What was your income from your 
 flocks previous to the war of 1846?—At least £2,000 a year. 
 I had annually a larger quantity of wool, which was fetching 
 Is. 10^d. per pound at that time, and I have had as much 
 as 2s. 
 
 105. After having sustained those losses in 1846, what 
 was your income reduced to ?—It was so far reduced that I 
 had to surrender my estate. In consequence of an alteration 
 which took place at that time in the Master’s Office, I was 
 required to give security for a claim he had on my property, 
 of about £8,000. Seeing that my stock was so reduced, he 
 pressed me for it, and, as I could not comply, I had to 
 surrender my estate. 
 
 106. And you became so reduced in circumstances that 
 you have never recovered since ?—Never; though I had 
 been one of the most wealthy men on the frontier. 
 
 107. Mr. Scanlen.] You have spoken of your own losses; 
 are you aware whether the losses of the inhabitants on the 
 whole line of frontier was much in the same ratio?—About 
 the same ; I do not know one individual who escaped. 
 
 108. Mr. I Valter.^ Have you any information to give the 
 committee as to the general losses on the frontier in the war 
 of 1846 ?—No ; but they must have been very great. 
 
 109. Chairman .] Do you believe that the claims for losses 
 were very generally given in to the Government commission? 
 — Yes; I rather think they were, but I doubt whether the 
 Dutch farmers generally gave in their losses. 
 
 110 . Did you sustain any loss in the late war of 1850 ?— 
 Yes; a very heavy loss. I had a flock of 3,000 sheep then. 
 
 Lieuterant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 11th June, 
 
 1860. 
 
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BERORE THE 
 
 12 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 11 tli June, 
 I 860 . 
 
 On the 29th of December I was obliged to remove my family 
 and flocks to a place of safety, at a farm on this side of the 
 Zwartkops River, and in c msequence of tins removal, the 
 want of pasturage, and a number of the sheep being drowned 
 in crossing the river, I sustained severe losses. 
 
 111. What was the amount of your losses in consequence 
 of that removal ?—I lost 3 horses, 750 sheep, worth about 
 20s. each (for they were some of my old flock), and 100 head 
 of cattle. 1 lost all these, partly by bad pasturage and partly 
 by their being carried off by the rebels. I estimate my 
 total loss at £1,110 including additional expenses. 
 
 112. Did you send in any statement of your losses in 
 1850 to any board or authority ?—I do not think any board 
 or commission had been appointed for the purpose. 
 
 113. Mr. Walter .] What was the cause of your not 
 sending in a claim for losses in the war of 1851? — So many 
 promises and hopes had been held out in the former wars, 
 which were never fulfilled, that 1 gave it up as a bad job 
 altogether. 
 
 114. Mr. Stanton .] How far was your place from the 
 boundary of Kafirland at the time the war broke out?— 
 About sixty miles. 
 
 115. Do you consider that those nearer the boundary 
 suffered more severely than yourself? —I doubt it very much, 
 because I found that the Kafirs had penetrated even beyond 
 my farm before the war broke out. 
 
 116. Did you ever, during those wars, hear any complaints 
 that the Commissariat were slaughtering cattle retaken from 
 the Kafirs?—Yes. 
 
 117. Mr. Walter .] Are you aware what Government did 
 with the cattle captured from the Kafirs during the wars?— 
 I think the greater part were sold, but I did not get any 
 money. I know that some of my own cattle were sold by the 
 Government, and I thought it a very hard case. 
 
 118. What became of the money?—The Government 
 can tell better than I can. 
 
 1 19. Was not that money divided amongst the captors?— 
 I do not think so. 
 
 120. Were you ever on commando? -Never; I was so 
 remote from the attacked border that 1 was quite out of the 
 way altogether. 
 
 121. Can you give the committee any information with 
 regard to the general losses during the last war?—1 do not 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIU WAR COMPENSATION. 13 
 
 recollect the amount, but I know that the losses were tremen¬ 
 dous. Some parties returned with scarcely a third of what 
 they had. 
 
 122. Have you a list of the sufferers, and the amount of 
 their losses during the last war?—No; i have not. 
 
 123. Mr. Scanlen.] Was not the whole border a scene of 
 wide-spread devastation and loss of life?—Yes; it was 
 fearful, 
 
 124 Chairman .] What extent of land did you possess at 
 Sidbury ?—41,600 acres of land, in several farms. 
 
 125. Are you a landholder at present?—No; everything, 
 just after the war of 1846, both stock and land, were almost 
 at a nominal value, and yet l was obliged to sell. I attribute 
 all my misfortunes entirely to the Kafir war. For instance, 
 one of my farms, which was sold at that time for £500, has 
 since been sold for £2,000, and a short time ago the proprie¬ 
 tor was offered £5,000 for it. 
 
 126. Mr. Walter.\ Since that period you have never been 
 able to carry on farming operations ?—Never. 
 
 127. Mr. Stanton.] Have you ever entered into business 
 since ?—No. 
 
 128. Why not?—For want of means. 
 
 129. Mr. Scanlen.] You had no intention to abandon 
 farming pursuits?—No; 1 built a house on my farm which 
 cost me £3,000, and that shows that I had some intention of 
 spending my life there. 
 
 Committee adjourned. 
 
 Lieutenant 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 11th June, 
 18 ( 30 . 
 
 Tuesday , \9t/i June , 1860. 
 
 present: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. Stanton, 
 Mr. Scanlen, 
 
 Mr. Walter. 
 
 Mr. L. H. Meurant , Civil Commissioner of Cradock, called 
 in and examined. 
 
 130. Mr. Stanton.] You are intimately acquainted with 
 the different Kafir wars which have occurred? — Yes; I 
 served in them all. 
 
14 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 L. H. Mcurant. 
 
 19 th Juno. 
 1860. 
 
 131. You will, of course, then, recollect the war of 1835? 
 —I do. 
 
 132. Do you recollect that the authorities appointed field- 
 cornets and provisional field-comets for the purpose of 
 collecting all stock belonging to farmers who had filed to 
 Graham’s Town for refuge at the breaking out of the war?— 
 I was at that time a lieutenant in the Graham’s Town volun¬ 
 teers. In consequence of the scarcity of water and grass, 
 an order was issued by the civil commissioner and the 
 committee of safety acting with him, that all cattle brought 
 into Graham’s Town should be taken from the owners and 
 sent to a farm about five or six miles from Graham’s Town, 
 then belonging to Mr. Ogilvie, called “ Coldstream.” A 
 guard of two officers and fifty men were stationed at this 
 farm to protect the cattle. I was repeatedly in command of 
 that guard during the war. The owners of the cattle had no 
 control over them whatever. The Kafirs constantly attacked 
 the herds whilst out in the veldt with the cattle, and hundreds 
 were lost and captured by the Kafirs. 
 
 133. Chairman .] At the time that these cattle were taken 
 possession of by the field-cornets, was it voluntary on the 
 part of the owners?—Not at all; it was a compulsory act on 
 the part of the Government. 
 
 134. After the cattle were sent to the depot, how were 
 they afterwards disposed of?—As far as I am aware, they 
 were chiefly lost, or captured by Kafirs. 
 
 135. Mr. Stanton. ] Did you ever hear of the owners 
 applying for their cattle ?—Repeatedly. 
 
 136. How many head of cattle had you under your pro¬ 
 tection?—At one time I had as many as 10,060 head under 
 my charge, as officer commanding the cattle-guard. 
 
 137. Did you ever hear any complaints from owners 
 relative to the slaughter of their cattle by the contractor for 
 the troops?—Yes ; 1 have heard that when cattle were scarce 
 in Graham’s Town an order was sent out to the officer com¬ 
 manding the guard to supply the contractor with the requisite 
 number. 
 
 138. Can you state any particular applications made by 
 owners for the return of their cattle?—Yes; I can remember 
 that some of the owners of cattle repeatedly applied to me, 
 when in command, but, having orders from Colonel Sparkes 
 not to deliver without written authority, I referred them to 
 him or to Colonel Smith. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE OX KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 15 
 
 139. Do you recollect any particular case when owners 
 recognized their cattle in the slaughter-house of the con¬ 
 tractor ?—Yes ; I can recollect and mention two cases 
 clearly. One instance was that of some cattle belonging to 
 the late Major White, which were seen by him in the kraal 
 of the contractor, Mr. Lee. He claimed these cattle as his 
 property, but was informed by the contractor that he had 
 received them from Government. Major White went to 
 Captain Campbell, the civil commissioner, and I think, also, 
 to Colonel Smith, but he could not get them restored. They 
 were all killed for the use of the troops. The other case was 
 that of nay father-in-law, Mr. M. T. Smit. He was driven 
 awav from his farm on the 26th December, 1834, the Kafirs 
 taking all his stock, consisting of 100 head of cattle and a 
 large number of merinoes. His house was burnt, with 
 everything it contained ; all he saved was one span of oxen, 
 with which lie trekked to a camp near Salem, on a farm of 
 Mr. Gilbert The Kafirs attacked the camp and captured 
 the whole of the cattle; amongst them my father's fine span. 
 A colonial patrol, which happened to be out, recaptured these 
 cattle, and a few days afterwards my father-in-law, who at 
 that time was residing with me in Graham’s Town, saw his 
 span of oxen in the contractor’s kraal in Graham's Town ; 
 one ox had just been killed. I accompanied him to .VIr. 
 Lee’s, the contractor, to claim his oxen, but received the 
 same reply, namely, that the cattle had been handed over by 
 Government, and could not be returned. I went to the civil 
 commissioner, but without effect. All the cattle were killed, 
 and no compensation ever received. 
 
 140. Chairman.] Did you ever hear that a promise had 
 been made by Government that compensation would be 
 awarded to owners for the loss of cattle killed for Government 
 purposes? — Yes; it w 7 as the reply I received from Captain 
 Campbell, but not only for Government purposes. I have 
 repeatedly heard Colonel (now Lieutenant-General Sir Harry) 
 Smith, Captain Campbell, and Major White, on the staff of 
 Sir Benjamin D' Urban, tell the farmers that they were sure 
 to be compensated for their losses 
 
 141. Did you ever hear how funds were to be realized to 
 make this compensation ? — I do not know, except by cap¬ 
 tured cattle and sale of land. 
 
 142. Was it not well known that Sir Benjamin D'Urban 
 had strongly recommended the case of compensation to the 
 
 Mr. 
 
 L. H. Meurant. 
 
 19th June, 
 1860. 
 
Mr. 
 
 Ij. H. Meurant. 
 
 19th June, 
 1860. 
 
 16 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Home Government ?—It was the general impression that 
 such was the case. 
 
 143. Mr. Scanlon.] Are you aware whether the Govern¬ 
 ment ever surcharged the contractor for these cattle?—1 
 cannot speak positively that such was done in the war of 
 1835, but 1 know, in the wars of 1846 and 1850, such was 
 the case. 
 
 144. Chairman.'] Do you remember having heard of the 
 authorities distinctly stating that the sufferers in that war 
 would receive compensation?—I have already said so. I 
 have heard Captain Campbell and Major White, then on the 
 staff’ of Sir Benjamin D'Urban, telling the farmers that they 
 would be compensated for their losses. 
 
 145. Mr. Stanton.] Do you recollect Mr. Jarvis being 
 appointed a commissioner for the sale of captured cattle?—- 
 Yes. 
 
 146. And Mr. Hudson being appointed to receive the 
 claims of the sufferers?—Well, the thing was done in this 
 way: a commissioner was appointed to receive claims from 
 the farmers who had lost cattle during the war; they then 
 received a note from the commissioner to purchase captured 
 cattle at the Government sales ; the parties then produced 
 their note, and the amount, some eight or ten per cent, upon 
 their loss, was deducted from the amount of their purchase 
 and the balance they paid. 
 
 147. Do you consider that if the owners of the cattle had 
 been allowed to claim the cattle bearing their marks, they 
 would have recovered a great part of their property?—Yes ; 
 but they were not allowed to claim their cattle. I know that 
 amongst the cattle sold a number were recognized by the 
 owners, bearing their marks, but they were told that they 
 must deliver in their claims for compensation to the com¬ 
 missioners. 
 
 148. Mr. Walter.] The amount was, of course, distributed 
 among the captors?—No; amongst the sufferers: but I am 
 speaking of the war of 1835. 
 
 149. Chairman.] Were not all the sufferers in the expec¬ 
 tation of receiving compensation, and was not that expectation 
 frustrated by the reversal of Sir Benjamin D'Urban’s system 
 by the Home Government?—Well, I cannot say that it was 
 frustrated by that. 
 
 150. Mr. Walter.] If that system had not been reversed, 
 do you consider that the claimants would have received com- 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 17 
 
 pensation out of the lands taken from the Kafirs?—They 
 might; there were lands enough to compensate all the 
 sufferers, but whether they would have done so is another 
 question. 
 
 151. Chairman .] You were present on the frontier at the 
 commencement of the war of 1846?—Yes; I served through 
 the whole of it as commander of the Graham’s Town Hotten¬ 
 tot levy. 
 
 152. You are aware that there was a very great loss of 
 property in that war ?—Yes; the loss was very great. I 
 lost £5,000 myself, in stock, in that war. 
 
 153. Mr. Walter.] Did you send in a claim for compen¬ 
 sation?—Yes. I was also appointed by Sir Harry Smith as 
 a member of the board to receive claims. There were two 
 commissions appointed. Sir Henry Pottinger first appointed 
 Mr. Burgass a commissioner to receive claims, and Sir Harry 
 Smith subsequently appointed another commission, of which 
 I was a member; also to receive claims for losses of stock 
 during the Kafir war. The commission sat in Graham’s 
 Town for a long time, and took evidence, and we also moved 
 about the country, to Beaufort, Bathurst, the Kat River, and 
 several other places. 
 
 154. Did the commission take evidence upon oath?—I 
 am not prepared to say, but 1 know that the examinations 
 were very stringent; we went into everything most minutely. 
 
 155. Was that commission simply appointed to collect the 
 claims?—Yes; to collect and report. 
 
 156. Was that report sent in with a list of the claims?—Yes. 
 
 157. Did the commission proceed any further after send¬ 
 ing in their report ?—No; their functions ceased after they 
 had sent in their report. 
 
 158. Mr. Stanton.] Were the commissioners very par¬ 
 ticular in putting down the stock at a fair price? —We cut 
 down the claims very much, and were very minute in our 
 inquiries. 
 
 159. Then you do not consider that any of the claims 
 admitted were overvalued ?—No ; quite the reverse. 
 
 160. Mr. Walter.] Did it include an account of all the 
 houses burned ?—Yes We called upon every person to 
 produce proof of their losses, and not only took their own 
 statements, but called upon one or two of their neighbours 
 to prove that they had actually lost the stock stated ; we did 
 so in every case. 
 
 A. 19.-'CO. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION— 3. D 
 
 Mr. 
 
 L. H. Meurant. 
 
 19th June, 
 18G0. 
 
18 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 L. II. Mcurant. 
 
 19 th June, 
 18G0. 
 
 161. And the whole of the evidence was transmitted to 
 Government ?—Yes. 
 
 162. Who was the chairman of the board?—I think Mr. 
 W. Cock. 
 
 163. Are yon aware whether a secretary was appointed ?— 
 Yes; the late Mr. B. Hadley, and he was paid by Government. 
 
 164. Mr. Stanton .] At the time that this board sat to 
 receive those claims, what was the understanding* as to the 
 way in which those claims should be settled ?—Well, it was 
 understood that those claims were to be settled out of the 
 lands captured from the Kafirs in that war of 1846. 
 
 165. What land was taken from the Kafirs in 1846?—I 
 think the present district of Victoria East, by Peddie, along 
 the banks of the Keiskama, formerly styled the neutral 
 boundary. It was the most valuable land on the frontier. 
 
 166. Mr. Walter .] Farms have been granted in that 
 district to many individuals ?—Yes. 
 
 167. By way of compensation, or for protecting* the 
 frontier?—To protect the frontier. It was upon a system 
 carried out by Sir George Cathcart; they are granted under 
 military tenure. 
 
 168. Is there still a large extent of Government land in 
 that part of the colony unappropriated?—There may be, but 
 I am not aware of it. I think the only land unappropriated 
 there is in possession of the Fingoes. 
 
 169. Is there any in North Victoria?—Yes. 
 
 170. Are you aware of any Government lands at present 
 unappropriated that could be rendered available for compen¬ 
 sation to the sufferers in the Kafir wars of 1846 and since ?— 
 Yes. 
 
 171. Where are they situated ?—The whole of the Bonte- 
 bok Flats, Vadana’s country. There is also land about 
 Peddie, now under survey, by order of Government. 
 
 172. Mr. Scanlen.~\ Are you not aware that in the district 
 of Queen’s Town there is still a good deal of unappropriated 
 land ?—I am not aware of it. 
 
 173. Principally in the neighbourhood of Windvogelsberg? 
 —Yes; that is the land I was speaking of. The Bontebok 
 Flats, then striking across by the Thorn River and Chumie 
 River, beyond the great road to King William’s Town, and 
 abutting on Vadana’s country. Then there is a very great 
 extent of country between the top of the Katberg, by the 
 Kromme River, until you get to Whittlesea. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 19 
 
 174. Mr. Walter.'] Then if those lands were sold, the f TT ^ tranf 
 proceeds would be more than sufficient to meet those claims? — 
 
 —I am not prepared to say that. 19t 'i 860 . une ' 
 
 175. Mr. Scanlen.] You are aware that a considerable 
 quantity of land was sold by the Government in the Victoria 
 district ?—Yes ; the finest land in the Chumie, and along the 
 Keiskama. 
 
 176. Mr. Walter.] Then the proceeds went to the general 
 revenue ?—Yes. 
 
 177. Mr. Stanton.] Do you consider that the lands in the 
 Chumie and Keiskama were sold at their real valve?—No. 
 
 I know one gentleman who purchased to the amount of 
 £3,000, and who has refused £35,000 for his purchase. 
 
 178. Mr. Walter.] How do you account for the land 
 having been sold under its full value?—The price of land 
 has risen since; but if the sufferers in the wars had been 
 allowed to purchase at that lime, the land would have brought 
 double the amount. 
 
 179. Mr Stanton.] These lands having been sold imme¬ 
 diately after the colony had suffered so much, the farmers 
 were not in a position to buy ?—Yes ; and hence, I say, if 
 the sufferers in the wars of 1835 and 1846 had been allowed 
 to purchase lands on account of their claims, they would 
 have fetched very much more. 
 
 180. Were they sold for cash?—Upon the Government 
 system. 
 
 181. Do you consider it a very great drawback to sell 
 land for cash ?—Yes. 
 
 182. Do you consider the system of selling lands on free¬ 
 hold a benefit or injury ?—It is a very bad system. 
 
 183. Do you consider that if those lands had been sold on 
 quitrent they would have brought in an extensive revenue to 
 the colony ?—Unquestionably. 
 
 184. Then you condemn that system of selling lands ?— 
 
 Yes. 
 
 185. Mr. Walter.] That is the course now adopted ?— 
 
 No; not now. 
 
 186. Chairman.] Are you aware that the Commissioners 
 Cock and Godlonton proposed a plan to Government by 
 which the claims should be met by certificates, to be avail¬ 
 able for the purchase of land ?—Yes ; and it was also 
 proposed by the board of which I was a member ; hence I 
 say, that if, in reference to the wars of 1835 and 1846, the 
 
20 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 L. H. Jleurant. 
 
 19 th June, 
 1860. 
 
 sufferers had been allowed to purchase in that way, the lands 
 would have fetched much more than they did. 
 
 187. Do you consider that the payment in land, by acres 
 instead of pounds, reckoning an acre at twenty shillings, 
 would be an equitable mode of settling the claims now ?— 
 Yes; I think so. 
 
 188. Would not such a disposal of land greatly enhance 
 the value of all remaining Crown lands?—Unquestionably; 
 it would at once give value to all waste lands. 
 
 189. You were on the frontier during the late rebellion? 
 —Yes; I served through the whole of it. 
 
 190. Do you consider the war to have been an ordinary 
 Kafir war, or a rebellion?—A rebellion. In fact, Sir George 
 Cathcart always called it “ the war of rebellion ;” he always 
 alluded to it as such in his public documents. 
 
 191. Mr. Walter .] Are you aware whether any commis¬ 
 sion was appointed to collect the claims of the sufferers in 
 the war of rebellion ?—No ; I am not aware of it. 
 
 192. Mr. Scanlen. ] You were an eye-witness to the 
 immense loss of life and property caused by that outbreak ? 
 —I may mention an instance. I was living in Oliphant’s 
 Hoek just before the war of 1850. In December, 1850, 
 several faithful Kafir servants had informed their masters that 
 there would be a war, and that they had received orders 
 from their chiefs to leave their masters and go into Kafirland. 
 We held a meeting of the farmers, and the commandant, 
 P. J. Woest, and myself, were deputed by the farmers to 
 proceed to King William’s Town, to confer with Sir Harry 
 Smith. We did so. I saw Sir Harry Smith, and commu¬ 
 nicated my fears, and told him what I had heard from the 
 Kafir servants. He assured me that there would be no war, 
 and desired me to go back to Oliphant's Hoek, and to tell 
 the farmers that there would be no war. I did so, and on 
 passing through Graham’s Town I published a long state¬ 
 ment in the Grahams Town Journal of the interview I had 
 had. I got back to Oliphant’s Hoek on the 13th or 14th of 
 December, and there 1 received a note from Sir Harry 
 Smith, in which he writes to this effect,—“ Tell your friends 
 that there will be no war ; but, should any disturbance take 
 place, I am sure to know it, and I will let you know at once.” 
 On Christmas-day I was sitting down to my Christmas 
 dinner when I received an express from Graham’s Town, 
 requesting me to inform all the farmers that intelligence had 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFILl WAR COMPENSATION. 21 
 
 been received from Kafirland that the whole of the military 
 settlers in the military villages had been murdered, and that 
 we should take immediate steps for our own safety. I put 
 my wife and children into a wagon and fled, and left every¬ 
 thing in the house, as we expected the Kafirs every moment; 
 nearly all the farmers acted in the same way. 
 
 ] 93. Mr. Walter .] How soon did the Kafirs come down ? 
 —Not until two or three days after. 
 
 194. What became of the Kafir in your service who gave 
 you the information ?—I thought I saw his body afterwards, 
 but could not with certainty identify him. In consequence 
 of having to leave everything, I lost everything that I had. 
 
 195. Did you send in the amount of your losses to any¬ 
 one?—No; no board had been appointed, and it was also 
 useless to do so. I did so in the war of 1846. 
 
 196. What was the amount of your losses in 1846?— 
 £5,000. 
 
 197. Mr. Stanton .] What was the amount of your losses 
 in 1851 ?—It was very considerable. 
 
 198. Chairman .] Are you aware that boards of relief 
 were appointed during the war of rebellion ?—Yes. 
 
 199. Do you know whether any statements of losses were 
 sent in to them ?—Yes. 
 
 200 . Do you think that any of them could be got now ?—■ 
 Yes. 
 
 201 . Mr. Walter.] What lands were taken from the 
 Kafirs in the war of 1851 ?—The division of Queen’s Town. 
 
 202. Is that all ?—Also the whole of British Kaffraria. 
 
 203. Many persons surrendered their estates after the 
 wars ?—Yes; a great many. 
 
 204. Chairman.] Can you give the committee any idea of 
 the total amount of losses in the last war ?—I heard it stated 
 at £500,000. 
 
 Committee adjourned until Friday next, at ten o’clock. 
 
22 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BERORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 I860. 
 
 Friday , 27 ill June , 1860. 
 
 present: 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. Stanton, Mr. Bosman, 
 
 Mr. Scanlon, Mr. Walter. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Fair , formerly a resident on the Bushman’s 
 River, called in and examined. 
 
 205. Chairman.\ How long have you resided on the 
 Bushman’s River?—I came out from England in 1842. 
 
 206. Did you purchase lands in that neighbourhood ?— 
 Yes ; they were purchased for me previous to my arrival. 
 I had four farms, containing about 15,000 acres in all. 
 
 207. What did you estimate the value of your farms at, 
 previous to the war ?—About £7,000. 
 
 208. What was their value after the war?—£2,139. 
 
 209. What was their cost six years before ?—£1,970. 
 
 210 . To what do you attribute the depreciation in the 
 estimated value of your farms?—It was entirely owing to 
 the war of 1846. 
 
 211 . What was your annual income previous to the war? 
 —About £600 per annum, arising from the produce of the 
 farms, and increase of stock, wool, &c. 
 
 212 . Can you give us a statement of your actual loss 
 during the war of 1846?—Yes; I beg to hand in a state¬ 
 ment showing my losses: 
 
 Account of Losses on Movable Property and Dwelling-house 
 belonging to the Undersigned, in consequence of the War of 
 1846. 
 
 Losses of Stock: 
 
 47 fine-woolled sheep, at 12s. ... £ 28 4 0 
 
 42 head of Fatherland cattle, tho¬ 
 rough-bred, at £4 ... ... ... 168 0 0 
 
 Goats, poultry, pigs, &c. ... ... 20 0 0 
 
 -£216 4 0 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 
 
 23 
 
 Loss sustained by the entrance of the enemy into 
 House and Out-houses: 
 
 House, estimated 
 Out-houses, estimated 
 Destruction of furniture 
 Engravings,maps, books, 
 coloured drawings, &c. 
 Ploughs, and other farm¬ 
 ing implemts., churns, 
 flour-mill, &c. 
 
 .£342 0 0 
 
 . 20 0 0 
 
 £35 0 0 
 
 40 0 0 
 
 21 0 0 
 
 - 96 0 0 
 
 -458 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 1860. 
 
 0 0 
 
 £674 4 0 
 
 213. This is a copy of the statement of your losses which 
 you sent in to the commission ?—Yes. 
 
 214. What induced you to send that copy to them ?—In 
 consequence of the invitation of the Attorney-General, 
 seconded, also, by Mr. Hadley’s circular, a copy of which I 
 beg to hand in : 
 
 BURGHER FORCE.—CLAIMS FOR REPAYMENT 
 FOR SUPPLIES. 
 
 Office of Board of Commissioners, Cape Town, 
 25th October, 1848. 
 
 The board appointed to investigate claims on account of supplies 
 obtained on requisition of the civil authorities, for the use of the 
 burgher force called out against the Kafirs in the late war, hereby 
 give notice, that they are about to complete and close their list, 
 preparatory to their report. 
 
 All parties, therefore, having claims of this nature, including 
 claims for wagons, oxen, horses, &c., lost by members of the force 
 whilst on actual service, who have not already sent in, either 
 through the civil commissioners of their respective divisions, or 
 through other channels, are requested to lose no time in forwarding 
 them. 
 
 It is proper to observe that claims for losses by incursions of the 
 enemy, or losses deemed to have been consequent upon the exist¬ 
 ence of a state of war, do not fall within the duties of this board, 
 inasmuch as a distinct commission for the investigation of such 
 claims has been appointed by his Excellency the Governor; of 
 which the Honourable William Cock, Esq., is the chairman. This 
 fact, however, will not render a renewal of applications necessary, 
 as all claims for such losses, which have been already received, 
 shall be forwarded to that commission, as soon as the vouchers, 
 &c., shall be fully classified and arranged. 
 
 (Signed) W. PORTER, Chairman. 
 
24 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 I860. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The board of commissioners appointed by bis Excellency the 
 Governor, on the 24th ultimo, for the investigation of the claims 
 preferred for compensation for losses sustained in the late Kafir 
 war, by the invasions of the enemy, hereby give notice to all those 
 parties who have not sent in their claims, to do so without delay, to 
 the undersigned. 
 
 (Signed) BEN. HADLEY, Secretary. 
 
 N.B. It is proper to observe that the class of claims above 
 alluded to refer only to losses sustained by the incursions of the 
 enemy, or losses deemed to have been consequent on the late Avar, 
 and not for losses sustained in prosecution of the war. 
 
 215. Had you any communication with the commissioners 
 who investigated the claims ?—No ; I was in the district of 
 George at the time the commissioners were sitting, suffering 
 from illness, but I had a communication from Mr. Godlonton, 
 one of the commissioners, informing me that the accounts 
 had passed. 
 
 216. Will you state to the committee from what source 
 you expected that compensation would be paid ?-—I con¬ 
 sidered that certain lands had been set apart by Government 
 for that purpose; the lands of Victoria and Albert. 
 
 217. Mr. Walter.'] What reason had you to think so?— 
 The minute of the 27th June, 1848, led me to suppose that, 
 which I beg to hand in : 
 
 The following minutes were presented to Council by his Excel¬ 
 lency the Governor, and ordered to be published: 
 
 COMPENSATION CLAIMS.—MINUTE. 
 
 Government-house, Cape Town, 
 27th June, 1848. 
 
 Honourable Gentlemen, —It will be in your recollection 
 that, upon the 30th of last month, the first day of your sitting, I 
 laid upon the table a petition, very numerously signed by farmers 
 and others, resident upon the eastern frontier, and sufferers by the 
 late and former Kafir Avars, praying for compensation. 
 
 Feeling upon that occasion that the claim preferred by the 
 petitioners Avas one of no small magnitude, and of a novel nature. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 25 
 
 I deemed it to be my duty to refrain from entering, with any 
 degree of minuteness, into its merits and details, and commended 
 it to the careful consideration of this Council, simply stating my 
 belief that, in forming your opinion, you would keep in view the 
 good of the whole colony, justice to all classes, and the rights of 
 your fellow-citizens generally. I have since deliberately reflected 
 upon the subject, and availed myself of the views, more or less in 
 unison with my own, entertained by others, with, I frankly admit, 
 an earnest desire to see, if I could, some just and expedient mode 
 in which sufferers might be relieved, and at the same time, with a 
 desire no less earnest, not to allow my sympathy with distress to 
 hurry me into any conclusions injurious to the rights or interests 
 of the colony at large. It appears to me desirable that I should 
 now state to you the general nature of the opinion which I at 
 present entertain. But in announcing, thus openly and thus early, 
 the views which I have formed, I wish to be understood as having 
 no desire to forbid or fetter the freest discussion of the subject by 
 this Council, and I shall attentively hear and dispassionately con¬ 
 sider the statements of every member who may feel disposed to 
 offer them. 
 
 You are already aware that the question to be decided is, in the 
 strictest sense, colonial. Upon grounds which, I think, you will, 
 with me, regard as just and reasonable, and which must, at all events, 
 be looked upon as final and decisive ; her Majesty’s Government 
 has denied that the people of England are bound to indemnify the 
 inhabitants of this, or any other British colony, against losses and 
 calamities, whether from war or other causes, to which their situa¬ 
 tion may expose them. 
 
 Principles alike sound and well-established, and the practice of 
 all parent states in regard to their dependencies, draw a clear and 
 obvious distinction between contributing to defend the settlement 
 against the enemies to which its situation exposes it, and paying the 
 inhabitants for such property as those enemies may chance to destroy 
 or carry off. So far as the Cape is concerned, the former of these 
 objects has, as Earl Grey remarks, employed, and that most freely, 
 the troops and treasure of the United Kingdom. The latter of these 
 objects, if it is to be accomplished at all, must be accomplished at 
 the expense of the colony itself. 
 
 The petition before the Council estimates the losses sustained by 
 the different inroads of the Kafir hoi’des as amounting, in round 
 numbers, to £600,000. Of this total, about one half is ascribed 
 to the war of 1834-5. The other half, or about £300,000, belongs 
 
 to the war of 1846. 
 
 I am disposed to think that, in regard to both wars, the losses are 
 considerably, though I am far from saying dishonestly, overstated. 
 Men who have lost their all naturally magnify to themselves, as well 
 as to others, the greatness of their loss ; and most persons are apt 
 to cling to the belief, in reference to such uncertain claims as these, 
 that their whole demand will never be allowed, and that the more 
 they ask for, the more they stand a chance of getting. 
 
 A. 19—'60. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION-4. E 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 1860. 
 
26 - 
 
 minutes OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 ‘27 th June, 
 
 1860. 
 
 Be this, however, as it may, I am bound to give you my opinion, 
 that no claim to compensation, to any extent whatever, founded 
 upon the war of 1834-5, can now be entertained. No man knows 
 better than I do the severity of the losses which were then endured. 
 No man felt more deeply than I did for the unhappy sufferers. 
 But, nevertheless, I am constrained to state, that to revise, at this 
 distant day, a claim for the losses then sustained, would be utterly 
 impossible. Time, in reference to matters of this nature, must be 
 allowed to settle and silence claims, even if originally clear; nor 
 could they, with propriety, be entertained after all means of effec¬ 
 tually scrutinizing their validity are gone; and when, in many 
 instances, the very claimants themselves would be incapable of 
 being traced. When to these considerations we add the all- 
 important fact, that the war of 1834-5 was not followed by any 
 acquisition from the enemy, out of which compensation could have 
 been afforded, it must, I think, appear to every one that the losses 
 sustained at that period cannot be either investigated or made 
 good. 
 
 In regard to the losses sustained by the inroads of the Kafirs in 
 1846, the case is different, and I am led to hope that means exist 
 from which compensation may properly be given. Whether the 
 result of a honest and searching inquiry into the nature and 
 amount of the several claims preferred would be to swell them 
 above even the sum specified by the petitioners, or, what would 
 seem more likely, to reduce them, in the aggregate, by probably 
 one third; in either case the colony would seem to be in a position 
 to meet, if not entirely, at least to a large extent, the appeal now 
 made to its justice and humanity. 
 
 Not, indeed, by way of indemnity for the charges of the war, or 
 for devastation wantonly committed, but with a view to the better 
 protection and future tranquillity of the frontier, a new and more 
 desirable eastern boundary has been given to the colony, the effect, 
 though not the object, of which was to inclose a large, and, in many 
 parts, a fertile territory. 
 
 Of that territory, a certain portion will be required for general 
 public purposes, whilst a greater portion will be needed for those 
 military villages, which, as a means of cheap, expeditious, and effec¬ 
 tual defence, I regard as important, and desire to encourage. Grants 
 of the same extent as those which I have allotted to the men belong¬ 
 ing to these villages have not, I am aware, been judged necessary 
 in other colonies. In New Zealand, for example, of which the 
 circumstances are, in stfme degree, analogous, the grants to the 
 military settlers are limited to one acre. But in proposing to give 
 each man twelve acres in the new territory, I was influenced by 
 the fact that grants to the same extent had been, before my arrival, 
 assigned to Hottentot settlers, below whom I could not place 
 British soldiers; by the opinion that, owing to the nature of the 
 soil, and the local circumstances of the territory, twelve acres 
 could not be deemed excessive, and by the expectation that, in the 
 long run, those military villages would diffuse a sense of security 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 27 
 
 and confidence which must materially enhance the value of the 
 surrounding land reserved for the purposes of sale. And it is, at 
 all events, certain that, after every necessary deduction has been 
 made, land in the divisions of Victoria and Albert, of considerable 
 extent and value, will still remain to be disposed of. The peti¬ 
 tioners now before the Council, who, from their local knowledge, 
 must be peculiarly fitted to pronounce an opinion upon the subject, 
 state their confident belief that this land, if judiciously sold, would 
 be amply sufficient to raise the funds necessary to compensate 
 claims to the extent of the £ 600 , 000 , and still to leave a large 
 surplus revenue for Government purposes. 
 
 With unoffending and ruined colonists, upon the one side, calling 
 for relief, and, upon the other, the prospect of so rich a revenue to 
 arise from the land justly taken from the enemy whose unprovoked 
 aggression occasioned the misery complained of, I cannot bring 
 myself to doubt that this Council and the colony will join me in 
 the opinion that, after those charges which are clearly and indis¬ 
 putably preferred shall have been provided for out of this land 
 fund, compensation to fair claimants ought to be afforded. 
 
 I can do little more, at present, than announce a principle. The 
 value placed by the petitioners upon the land in question strikes 
 my mind as overrated, and some time must, of necessity, elapse 
 before its correctness can be tested by actual sale. But unless, 
 contrary to the expectation of the petitioners and myself, the land 
 fund should fall so far below their estimate as to subvert the basis 
 of the one practicable plan which they propose, we may cherish 
 the hope of being able to grant the relief so urgently solicited, 
 and, I believe, in many instances, so much needed, by a large 
 number of our fellow-colonists. 
 
 When territory is added to this, or any other colony, the first 
 and preferent charge upon its revenues is the expense which its 
 annexalion entails upon the colony at large. The two new divisions 
 ought not to be a burthen upon the general finances. It follows, 
 therefore, that the charge of their judicial and fiscal administration 
 should, by right, be defrayed out of their own resources, calcula¬ 
 ting, of course, as part of their resources, not merely their land 
 fund, but their indirect contributions to the general revenue, 
 arising out of their consumption of articles which have paid 
 customs, or other duties, as roughly estimated from the number 
 and nature of their probable population. 
 
 But I am bound to go further, and to submit to you one or two 
 other principles, connected more or less with the due application 
 of the land fund of these new divisions, which principles will be 
 found, I think, as sound and just as that to which I have adverted. 
 
 Treating the land acquired as being virtually equivalent to the 
 money which it will produce, it might seem that the primary 
 application of the fund should be to defray, as far as it would go, 
 the general expenses of the war. These, however, have been 
 mainly borne by the mother country. There are, however, still 
 pending before me, a number of claims of a very meritorious 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 1860. 
 
28 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27lh June, 
 1860. 
 
 nature, which await their settlement. I allude to the claims of 
 those who lost wagons, horses, oxen, &c., in the prosecution of 
 the war. 
 
 The common sense of mankind, and the usages of all civilized 
 communities, draw a broad and distinguishable line between the 
 owners of property lost in the course of carrying on hostilities 
 against the enemy and the owners of property lost by the mere 
 inburst of the enemy, without any reference to the general 
 defence, just as, by the immemorial and equitable law of the sea, 
 the owners of property sacrificed in a tempest for the preservation 
 of the ship and cargo have a claim to contribution from those 
 whose interests are thus consulted, which the owners of property 
 destroyed by the mere violence of the waves have not; upon this 
 principle, I regard the claims of those colonists whose property, 
 employed in the defence of the colony, perished in the prosecution 
 of the war, as being, in their nature, higher yet than the claims 
 of those colonists whose property, scattered over the country into 
 which the enemy broke, was destroyed or swept away. 
 
 The board which I lately nominated to investigate the class of 
 claims to which I have now adverted is engaged in the inquiry, 
 and will, I am led to think, soon favour me with its report. 
 
 When I shall have received and considered that report, I shall 
 be in a situation to judge how far it can be justly and fairly shown 
 that the property in regard to which the claims in question are 
 preferred was so employed as to form an inseparable part of that 
 military defence of the colony during the war, the cost of which 
 her Majesty’s Government seems to admit that the British trea¬ 
 sury is prepared to meet. 
 
 My present impression is that the burgher force will be viewed 
 by her Majesty’s Government as cheap substitutes for soldiers, 
 and that the wagons, oxen, and horses impressed for their equip¬ 
 ment, and lost during their service in the field, will, therefore, be 
 paid for out of the same fund which has borne all kindred charges. 
 
 You are, however, aware of the extent to which the British 
 treasury has already contributed to the charges of the war, and I 
 should fail in candour did I not call your attention to the possi¬ 
 bility that Parliament, beset with critical events and monetary 
 difficulties, and struck with the magnitude of its past votes for the 
 Kafir war, may avert its eyes from the principle involved, and 
 refuse to entertain this additional demand. 
 
 Should it so happen that her Majesty’s Government feels itself 
 unable to undertake the payment of those claims, it will behove 
 this Council to consider the manner in which they should be met. 
 To me it appears that, in such event, they should be defrayed out 
 of the purchase-money of the territory taken from the enemy, and 
 that they should be so defrayed before claims to compensation for 
 losses, which, however ruinous to individuals, were useless to the 
 public, can expect to be satisfied. If, however, as there is reason 
 to anticipate, those meritorious claimants should be paid out of the 
 military chest, the land fund of the new divisions will be laid open 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 29 
 
 for other purposes, and the relief of the petitioners amongst 
 the rest. 
 
 By the extract from Lord Grey’s dispatch, which I laid before 
 you on Friday last, you will have learned that the revenues of the 
 United Kingdom will not be subjected to the expenses of any 
 future Kafir war, should such a war unhappily occur. The 
 colony, it is plain, must hereafter contribute, and that liberally, 
 to its own defence. I believe that it is able to do so, that it ought 
 to do so, and that it is prepared to do so. One means of your 
 defence will be the organization of some sort of frontier militia, 
 to be called out occasionally, and in case of need. Another means 
 of your defence will be the Kafir police, which have already proved 
 their value and utility. It will be my constant labour, as it is my 
 stedfast hope, to make those and similar agencies so powerful and 
 effective as, with God’s blessing, to ensure peace and good order 
 on both sides of the boundary, to render war almost impossible, 
 and to promote the moral and sodal advancement of all classes of 
 the population,— colonists and Kafirs. 
 
 But certain of those beneficial agencies will necessarily entail 
 expense. In the progressive improvement of the colonial revenue, 
 I am willing to discern a source from which a portion of that 
 expense may properly be defrayed. Viewing the colony as one 
 and indivisible, I regard all portions of it as being interested in 
 the maintenance of the frontier defences, and I conceive that a 
 portion of the general revenue would be well spent in their ade¬ 
 quate support. The new boundary^, instead of being more 
 expensive, will be less expensive than the old ; and to preserve 
 the integrity of our frontier is the common concern of us all. 
 This is universally and cheerfully admitted. The difficulty which 
 is felt is to fix the proportion in which the fund to be raised by 
 the sale of land taken from the former enemy should be charged 
 with the cost of our means of defence against a recurrence of 
 aggression, before it can be properly made applicable to the settle¬ 
 ment of such claims as those of the petitioners. 
 
 If the valuation put by the petitioners upon the land in Victoria 
 and Albert be even approximately realized, we shall, in a great 
 degree, if not altogether, be relieved from difficulty. Should, 
 however, the land fund in question turn out to be much below the 
 amount thus calculated, a competition of opposing claims, attended 
 with more or less difficulty, will, in all probability arise. 
 
 If we suppose that the ordinary revenue of the new divisions, 
 independently of land sales, would cover, or nearly so, the expense 
 of their ordinary administration ; and if we further assume that 
 her Majesty’s Government will be prepared, after suitable expla¬ 
 nations have been offered, to satisfy the peculiar class of claimants 
 to whom I have adverted, no reasonable doubt can well be enter¬ 
 tained that the land fund will be large enough to meet the remaining 
 demands upon it, namely, its just proportion of the permanent 
 expenses of the frontier, together with the payment of compensation 
 to the petitioners. This, however, is taking the most favourable 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 I860. 
 
30 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 1860. 
 
 view of the case; and should any part of the ordinary administra¬ 
 tion of the new divisions be ultimately thrown upon the land fund, 
 and the claimants, whom I regard as preferent, be also thrown 
 upon that fund, it may be found that, unless the sales prove not 
 less successful than the petitioners anticipate, it will not be prac¬ 
 ticable to afford to the petitioners more than partial indemnification. 
 
 Until we shall have ascertained, with some degree of certainty, 
 the amount of the land fund, the amount of all claims to compen¬ 
 sation of every class, the decision of her Majesty’s Government 
 upon the question to be submitted, and the state and prospects of 
 the general revenue at the time when the matter shall be ripe for 
 an ultimate determination, it would, I think, be improper for me 
 to say more. 
 
 Let it, therefore, suffice to add that, after the claims which I 
 have specified as preferent to those of the petitioners shall be 
 either defrayed out of other sources, or out of the land fund itself, 
 I shall be ready to support the'view that the surplus, so far as it 
 may be required to cover all fair and proved demands upon the 
 part of sufferers by the incursions of the Kafirs in 1846, should 
 be applied to that humane and meritorious purpose, instead of 
 being merged in the general revenue of the colony. 
 
 (Signed) IL G. SMITH. 
 
 I beg, also, to refer to a report of the commissioners on the 
 compensation claims, and the answer to that from the 
 Colonial Secretary : 
 
 Report of the Board of Commissioners for investigating Claims 
 for Losses sustained by the Kafir War of 1846-7. 
 
 1. The board of commissioners appointed by his Excellency the 
 Governor, by advertisement in the Government Gazette , dated 
 24th October, 1848, to investigate the claims pref'erred by the 
 inhabitants of the several divisions of the colony for losses sustained 
 by them, arising from the ravages of the enemy in the Kafir war 
 during the years 1846-7, having fulfilled the duty to which they 
 were appointed, have agreed to the following report,— 
 
 2. The board, having assembled on the 28th December, 1848, 
 proceeded at once to business by deliberating on the best course 
 of procedure, so as to give effect to the intentions and views of 
 his Excellency the Governor, as set forth in a minute, dated 27th 
 dune, 1842, submitted by him to the Legislative Council. Taking 
 this minute, therefore, as the basis of their proceedings, the board 
 directed their attention exclusively to those claims therein specified, 
 namely, “ Losses sustained by the colonists by the inburst of the 
 enemy.” 
 
 3. Preliminary to entering upon details, the board would remark 
 that their most anxious desire throughout the investigations has 
 been to award even-handed justice to all parties, and especially to 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 31 
 
 guard, if possible, the interests of the moderate and just claimant 
 against the exaggerated and unscrupulous claims of the less scru¬ 
 pulous. It was apparent to the board that, from the very character 
 of the claims, the circumstances under which the alleged losses 
 occurred, and the variation of value attached to property by the 
 several claimants, a danger would be presented lest the awards of 
 the board should not be duly equalized. To obviate this, as far 
 as practicable, the board resolved, arduous and tedious as was the 
 task, to require viva voce evidence upon every case, without, how¬ 
 ever, prescribing to the parties the nature or amount of the 
 evidence to be produced, but simply leaving it to themselves to 
 fortify their own statements by the best proof it might be in their 
 power, or they should think it necessary for their own interests, 
 to produce. 
 
 4. In accordance with this resolution, the board have, in the 
 performance of their duty, carefully investigated no fewer than 
 2,600 claims, in each of which, besides the verbal and written 
 statements of the claimants, the testimony of two, and, in many 
 cases, more, witnesses, was heard, and made matter of record ; 
 which records, covering many thousand folios, are submitted, with 
 this report, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, 
 and of her Majesty’s Government. 
 
 5. In the course of their investigations, many difficulties were 
 presented to the board, some of which admitted of reduction to 
 certain fixed principles, while others of a more novel character 
 were necessarily got rid of or determined by the general merits of 
 the case submitted for consideration. Amongst that class of claims 
 which admitted of the application of a fixed rule was the price of 
 farm produce, which, in numerous cases, was found rated by the 
 claimant at war prices. These were, of course, reduced, in every 
 instance, to the average market prices, with deduction for carriage 
 previous to the war; the rate being taken at a period so distant 
 from its commencement as to obviate the possibility of any 
 enhancement in price arising from a prospect of immediate 
 hostilities 
 
 6. The board had also to take under consideration the peculiar 
 state of the country, arising from the prevalence of drought during 
 the year of hostilities. On this point the board felt it due to the 
 claimants not to be influenced exclusively by their own opinions, 
 but to ascertain the opinions thereon of some of the most expe¬ 
 rienced practical men in the Eastern Province. After carefully 
 recording and attentively weighing the evidence thus afforded, the 
 board deemed it advisable not to lay down any fixed principles, 
 but to decide every claim upon its own merits. In arriving at 
 this decision, it was perceived that no fixed rule on this point 
 could be made, with perfect equity of general application. It 
 was ascertained, for instance, that in the Zuurveld protracted 
 drought is far less injuriously felt by the floekmasters than in the 
 Zoetveld, and hence, to have made the same deduction from each 
 would have been manifestly unjust. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 1860. 
 
32 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 17th June, 
 1860. 
 
 7. The board had also to consider attentively a number of claims 
 which, in the course of their proceedings, were preferred for the 
 loss of cattle employed during the war in the carrying trade, or 
 which had voluntarily been placed in a position of danger, with 
 a view to the fulfilment of some existing contract. Such claims 
 did not appear to the board to be of the nature of those which they 
 were empowered to adjudicate. Commendable as it might have 
 been for the parties concerned to endeavour, by active industry, 
 at a time of common danger, to gain a livelihood, yet it was 
 apparent to the board that the influencing motive was the hope of 
 extraordinary profit; and that the risk and probable loss arising 
 from the circumstances of the country were included in the calcu¬ 
 lation of those who were so induced to hazard property under 
 such circumstances. 
 
 8. Another difficulty which presented itself to the board was 
 in reference to the claims of colonists residing, at the time of the 
 war, in the neutral, or ceded territory. This tract of country, it 
 will be known, was occupied, up to the commencement of hostili¬ 
 ties, by certain of the Kafir tribes, who held possession by virtue 
 of existing treaties, on the tenure of good behaviour; subject, 
 however, to a right on the part of the British Government to 
 establish military posts in any part of that territory, and also for 
 British subjects to proceed from one post to another without let 
 or hindrance. Under these circumstances, the board considered 
 that those colonists who had made their domicile in that country, 
 with the sanction of the authorities and under the protection of the 
 British flag, were equally entitled to protection as though dwelling 
 within the colonial boundary, and that their claims came within 
 the scope of the legitimate duties of the board accordingly. 
 
 9. Beyond the limits of this territory the board were of opinion 
 they were not empowered to go. Several claims were preferred 
 for losses sustained by licensed traders and others in Kafirland, all 
 of which were rejected by the board, on the ground that their 
 exclusive duty was to investigate the losses of the colonists within 
 the colony only, and that, were they to go beyond it, the difficulty 
 of drawing a line, without specific instructions upon that particular 
 point, would be insurmountable. 
 
 10. The board desire, however, to record their opinion that this 
 exclusion is, in some cases, as respects the sufferers, a peculiar 
 hardship. Traders duly licensed by the local government to enter 
 Kafirland, or missionaries proceeding with its avowed approbation, 
 were obviously entitled to protection, and to claim, in the event of 
 maltreatment from the foreign power, the interference of their 
 own government, and, if need be, a demand of reparation for any 
 undeserved wrong which might have been sustained by them. The 
 board do not consider it within their province to dwell upon this 
 point, and hence they leave it, without further observation, to the 
 favourable consideration of her Majesty’s Government. 
 
 11. Having offered these preliminary remarks, the board pro¬ 
 ceed to state that the claims submitted to them for investigation 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 33 
 
 were of two distinct classes,—one for losses sustained by the 
 incursions of the enemy, and the other of a more incidental 
 character, arising out of the state of the country, the necessity of 
 removal, of assembling in parties for mutual protection, and the 
 consequent loss of stock, occasioned by want of food, by over¬ 
 driving, and by change of pasture. 
 
 12. Under the latter head, the amount of loss was found to be 
 nearly a third of the total amount, hundreds of cattle and thousands 
 of sheep having died of actual starvation. In the awards given, 
 no distinction has been made in these losses. Both were clearly 
 attributable to the “ inburst” of the enemy, and hence the award 
 of the board has been made accordingly. It must be remarked, 
 however, that considerable deductions have been made on the 
 claims submitted to the board. Nothing of a prospective character 
 has been admitted by them. Thus, where claims have been made 
 for wool which would have been clipped had the country been 
 left in repose, or where lambs have been brought to account that 
 might have been dropped had not the farmer been driven from his 
 homestead and his flock dispersed ; in all such cases, notwithstand¬ 
 ing their probable accuracy, the item has been entirely disallowed. 
 No claims but for bond fide losses have been admitted by the 
 board, and even these have been pared down to a scale which, in 
 the judgment of the board, brings each considerably within the 
 amount of loss actually sustained. 
 
 13. That some will feel aggrieved at this decision of the board 
 can scarcely be doubted; but that the board have been anxious to 
 do justice to all, and to save the claimants from unnecessary loss 
 and trouble, may be inferred from the fact of their having, at their 
 own expense (after receiving several written requests), made 
 journeys to different parts of the frontier, namely, Bathurst, Fort 
 Beaufort, Haddon, and Sidbury, devoting, at those places, an 
 aggregate of about six weeks (their sittings being prolonged, 
 sometimes, till midnight) to the investigation of the claims of the 
 inhabitants of those several districts. No claim, as far as the 
 board can ascertain, has been overlooked, or failed in meeting 
 with that consideration to which it was fairly entitled. 
 
 14. The board may here remark that, in their investigations at 
 Fort Beaufort into the claims (no less than 600 in number) of the 
 inhabitants of the Kat River settlement, their labours were greatly 
 facilitated by the gratuitous assistance of the Rev. W. R. Thom¬ 
 son, the resident colonial minister, and the Rev. Messrs. Read, 
 resident missionaries; and it is only justice to add that the claims 
 from this neighbourhood were moderate in their character, and 
 well-sustained, with very slight exceptions, by satisfactory 
 evidence. 
 
 15. The board deem it incumbent upon them also to state, 
 that amongst the inhabitants of the Kat River were the Kafir 
 chief Hermanus and his followers, residing, by permission of the 
 local government, on the spruits of the Blinkwater. In consider¬ 
 ing the claims of these persons, the attention of the board was 
 
 A. 19. — ’GO. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION— 5. 1 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 1860. 
 
Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27tli June, 
 I860. 
 
 34 MINUTES or EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 arrested by the fact that a greater number of Kafirs, apparently, 
 were residents of the localities named, than had, it was said, been 
 contemplated when permission of residence was given to the chief 
 abovenamed, in the first instance. Under these circumstances, the 
 board are doubtful whether their claims are admissable; and 
 accordingly they now bring them under the especial consideration 
 of his Excellency the Governor. 
 
 16. From the voluminous character of the records made by the 
 board, containing the evidence of about 5,000 witnesses, it has 
 been deemed necessary to construct, at great labour, from the 
 materials so furnished, a tabular summary, or register, of each 
 case, and ultimately to reduce each item to one general total. 
 From this may be seen, at one view, the claim made and the 
 amount awarded in each case. This register, with its alphabetical 
 index, will greatly facilitate reference, while, at the same time, it 
 affords, in the most compendious form, one of the most valuable 
 statistical tables ever constructed in relation to this colony. 
 
 17. This register, being a condensation of the labours of the 
 board, exhibits a total loss sustained by the colonists, arising out 
 of the last Kafir war, of the large sum of £406,002 7s. 6d.—and 
 this, after paring down the claims as already described, and making 
 every deduction that could be made, consistently with justice to 
 the injured party. The several items in the claims preferred are 
 as follows, namely: 
 
 Horses, 3,200; cattle, 66,806 ; sheep 
 
 and goats, 586,093 ; valued at ...£445,722 14 11 
 
 Buildings, furniture, and implements... 57,980 18 6 
 
 Crops, produce, &c. ... ... ... 21,888 17 9 
 
 Total of claims ... £525,592 11 2 
 
 Deductions: 
 
 On account of captured 
 cattle distributed to 
 claimants ... ... £24,174 0 0 
 
 Amount disallowed ... 95,416 3 8 
 
 -- 119,590 3 8 
 
 Total amount of award ... £406,002 7 6 
 
 18. These results, it will be seen, are far more formidable than 
 anticipated. In the minute referred to, his Excellency the Governor 
 says that “ The petition [of the sufferers by the invasion, praying 
 for compensation] before the council, estimates the losses sustained 
 by the different inroads of the Kafir hordes as amounting, in round 
 numbers, to £600,000. Of this total, about one half is ascribed 
 to the war of 1834-5 ; the other half, or about £300,000, belongs 
 to the war of 1846.” ' “ This estimate,” his Excellency goes on to 
 remark, “ he considers to be greatly overstated ;” a belief to 
 which he had arrived by reflecting that “ men who had lost their 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIH WAR COMPENSATION. 35 
 
 all, magnify to themselves, as well as to others, the greatness of 
 their loss.” 
 
 19. It will now he seen, however, that the estimate made in the 
 petition in question, instead of being too high, as supposed, is 
 considerably understated, and that the losses of 1846-7, so far 
 from permitting of an equal division with those of 1834-5, exceeds 
 the latter by no less a sum than £115,647 ; and that, too, after 
 making those large deductions from the several claims already 
 mentioned, amounting, in the aggregate, to nearly £120,000. 
 
 20. That so wide a discrepancy should exist between the 
 estimate and the actual result may be easily accounted for by the 
 nature of the claims and scattered character of the data on which 
 they were founded. The estimate appears to have been a mere 
 guess or calculation made from documents at hand; while the 
 board, to insure the greatest degree of accuracy it was in their 
 power to attain, required the claimants themselves to appear, for 
 the purpose of proving the correctness of their written statements, 
 —some of which had been transmitted to the civil commissioners 
 of districts, others to the municipal board of Graham’s Town, and 
 others to Mr. Commissioner Burgass, appointed by His Excellency 
 Sir Henry Pottinger to receive and examine them. 
 
 21. The board may add to this, and the addition is a simple act 
 of justice to the sufferers, that the total amount of award, large as 
 it is, but very inadequately represents the actual loss sustained by 
 the claimants. It should be remarked, too, that many of the 
 deductions referred to by the board were not made on the ground 
 of exaggeration in valuation, but simply from a principle laid 
 down by the board, that each claimant should be required to bear 
 some loss. All petty charges were, on this ground, at once dis¬ 
 allowed, as also the item for rent, on the ground that if this were 
 allowed to a tenant, then, on an equality of principle, every 
 proprietor would be entitled to claim compensation for the com¬ 
 pulsory non-occupation of his own property. The board are not 
 insensible to an appearance of hardship in this, but which will 
 admit of justification, by considering that the probable resources 
 applicable to the demands would be inadequate to the object, and 
 that if, under circumstances, the major losses were compensated, 
 the minor might be cheerfully foregone by all parties. 
 
 22. It should be remarked, also, that much of the loss sustained 
 by the sufferers is of a character which will not admit of specification, 
 nor can ever be compensated. The board do not refer to loss of 
 life or personal injuries by wounds received at the hands of the 
 enemy, or otherwise, arising out of the war, but simply to the loss 
 or deterioration of property. On this point, the following facts 
 will afford ample illustration. 
 
 23. By comparing the account sales of wool exported from this 
 frontier, by the extensive flock-masters Mr. James House, Mr. 
 John Niland, Mr. John Carlisle, Mr. H. Nourse, and the Messrs. 
 Bowker, in the year preceding the war, and contrasting the 
 returns with those which have reference to the year succeeding 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th Juno, 
 I860. 
 
36 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 
 18G0. 
 
 the termination of hostilities, a falling off in quantity is shown to 
 the extent of two-thirds. This is made apparent by the following 
 statement: 
 
 Wool exported by Mr. John Carlisle, in 1846, 
 
 78 bales, which realized ... ... ... ... £1,045 6 4 
 
 Exported in 1857, 25 bales, which realized only... 348 8 9 
 
 Loss of annual increase from wool... 
 
 Mr. John Niland exported wool, in 1846, to the 
 amount of... 
 
 In 1847 . 
 
 £696 17 7 
 
 £974 14 7 
 
 301 0 7 
 
 Loss of annual income from wool ... ... ... £673 14 0 
 
 24. Mr. H. Nourse has addressed the following remark to the 
 board on this subject, and which is here quoted, from its perfect 
 applicability to every flock-master along this extensive frontier: 
 
 “ I beg, however, to observe,” says this gentleman, “ that had 
 the war not taken place, I had every reason to calculate upon 
 shearing 100 bales of wool in January, 1847, instead of 53 (the 
 number actually shorn). I think our sheep, also, suffered 
 materially in their constitutions from the hardships and starvation 
 they underwent, which effect has continued beyond the immediate 
 moment, affecting both the quality and quantity of our wool and 
 diminishing the usual rate of increase. I beg to state, also, that the 
 difference I have stated was occasioned solely by the war, not 
 having sold any of my sheep during the intermediate period.” 
 
 25. The board might adduce, were it necessary, a large amount 
 of evidence to the same purport as the foregoing, but they con¬ 
 sider that the above will suffice fully to establish the fact, that 
 the sufferers by the Ivafir war have sustained pecuniary losses far 
 beyond the amount of the award in their favour, and that the 
 disastrous effects of that war, even should the compensation 
 awarded be made, will be severely felt for many succeeding 
 years. 
 
 26. It may also be remarked, that the losses sustained by the 
 horse-breeder and the cattle-farmer are in degree no less severe 
 than those of the flock-master. In many instances where the 
 individuals had, with great intelligence, cost, and perseverance, 
 applied themselves to the improvement of the valuable animals, 
 the greater part of their improved stock had been swept away, 
 driven off by the enemy, or perished by causes attributed to the 
 war, thus entailing upon the owner, and, it may be added, upon 
 the country, a loss which, under the most favourable circumstances, 
 can hardly be repaired within many years. The same observation 
 will admit of application, to a certain extent, to every class of the 
 inhabitants. All the industrial pursuits of this portion of the 
 colony have been disturbed, and in many instances entirely 
 paralized. The wreck of property has been fearfully great, the 
 full amount of which is by no means indicated by the board’s 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 37 
 
 award, which must, therefore, he understood as an approximation 
 merely, and not as the actual limit of the loss sustained. 
 
 27. The board would here remark that, in determining those 
 awards, a considerable reduction was made, on account of cattle 
 captured (some portion being colonial cattle captured) from the 
 enemy, and distributed amongst the respective sufferers. From 
 returns produced to the board it appears that 10,939 head of 
 cattle were so distributed, the value of which had been appraised 
 by persons appointed by Government, and, as the board think, 
 fairly, at £24,174. This sum has accordingly been deducted 
 from the claims, in fair proportion to the number of cattle, received 
 by the several parties. 
 
 28. The board cannot close this part of their report without 
 recording a declaration of their perfect conviction of the intrinsic 
 justice of the claim of the sufferers on the British Government; 
 nor can the board hesitate to express their belief, founded upon 
 the accumulated evidence produced to them, that no incidental 
 circumstances connected with the war, such as increase of public 
 expenditure, has in any degree exonerated the Government from 
 the obligation of affording to them that relief to which it has been 
 the object of the board to ascertain whether they were fairly 
 entitled. The equity of their claim is strongly supported by the 
 incontrovertible fact, that the colonists are altogether guiltless of 
 any act provoking the aggression made upon them. On the 
 contrary, the aggressions of the enemy arose out of causes which 
 they had no power whatever to control, but against which they 
 had repeatedly and earnestly, though dutifully, remonstrated, as 
 being pregnant with the very calamities which ultimately overtook 
 them; their property swept away or destroyed ; their fields and 
 gardens laid waste; their habitations burned; and the land for 
 the time rendered utterly desert. 
 
 29. To close this report without reference to the origin of their 
 appointment would, the board conceive, be, on their part, a 
 dereliction of duty. The board have engaged in the labours 
 imposed upon them, occupying a large portion of their time 
 during a period of more than twelve months, incurring considerable 
 expense and submitting to many very serious inconveniences, 
 without the slightest expectation of requital, save such as may 
 be derived from believing they have been of some assistance in 
 obtaining redress of injury to a meritorious class of the community 
 to which they belong. The board have the satisfaction of knowing 
 that the condition and character of the claimants have been duly 
 appreciated by his Excellency the Governor, who, by the 
 publication of the minute submitted by him to the Legislative 
 Council as aforementioned, has excited hopes as well as pointed 
 out the means of their realization, which it would be reprehensible 
 to suppose for an instant will not issue in some corresponding 
 practical result. 
 
 30. But, it must be stated that, irrespective of these hopes and 
 the labour and inconveniencies submitted to by the board, the 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 I860. 
 
38 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE TIIE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June. 
 18G0. 
 
 claimants themselves have, in the course of the investigation, been 
 put to considerable additional loss of time, trouble, and expense. 
 Many have had to travel from long distances to attend the sittings 
 of the board, and have been detained, sometimes for several days, 
 at the places to which they have been required to repair, at 
 considerable expense and inconvenience to themselves and families, 
 All this has been cheerfully submitted to, in firm reliance upon 
 the expectation excited bv the terms and spirit of the minute in 
 question. Experience gave assurance to them that the measures 
 propounded in that document to meet their respective claims were 
 neither chimerical nor unjust, and relying as they do upon the 
 integrity of their Government they now await the fulfilment of 
 hopes which they will not suppose for an instant have been 
 excited in vain. 
 
 31. The board deem it as entirely relevant with their duty to 
 advert to the source whence it is proposed, as intimated in his 
 Excellency’s minute, to derive the means of meeting the claims 
 now under consideration. On this subject the board would 
 remark, that although the circumstances of the country are less 
 promising in respect to the price of land than at the date of that 
 minute, yet it is, nevertheless, very evident to the board that a 
 considerable sum might be realized by the sale of the alienated 
 territory, were but regulations laid down in that respect, adapted 
 to the case and to the peculiar circumstances of the parties 
 especially interested. 
 
 32. Under this impression the board respectfully submit, for 
 the consideration of his Excellency the Governor and her 
 Maje sty’s Government, the following particulars, by an adherence 
 to which they are persuaded a fund might be created, without 
 trenching upon the ordinary revenue of the colony, which would 
 meet, at least in great part, the claims now made by the respective 
 sufferers: 
 
 1. That certificates be granted to the sevei'al claimants, showing 
 
 the amount of the award in their favour. 
 
 2. That these certificates be available in the purchase of the 
 
 alienated land, and in no other way, under such conditions or 
 in such proportions to the amount of award as might be 
 determined. 
 
 3. That the alienated or forfeited land be sold at a long credit— 
 
 say in annual instalments extending over from 5 to 10 years 
 —a provisional title being given, the actual validity of which 
 to be contingent upon the payment of the purchase money 
 and of an annual quitrent, to be dated from the day of sale. 
 
 4. That all expenses of survey and other preliminary outlay be 
 
 paid in cash by the respective proprietors at the time of sale. 
 
 5. That a Land Board be appointed for the management of this 
 
 particular duty, the civil commissioner of the alienated lands 
 to be chairman, and a competent surveyor attached thereto 
 for the time being. 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 39 
 
 33. One point which the board consider in connection with this 
 suggestion of the greatest importance, is the probability that were 
 this scheme adopted by the Government it would introduce at 
 once into the new districts, as permanent residents, the most 
 suitable class of proprietors by which it could be occupied, namely, 
 the enterprising colonial-bred farmer, accustomed to frontier life, 
 and who, having suffered from the incursions of the Kafirs, would 
 not only be upon his guard, but from habit and character would 
 be of all others best able to retain possession of the country or to 
 resist aggression by the natives, should it hereafter be made upon 
 the colony. 
 
 34. In venturing to make these suggestions the board do so 
 under a firm conviction that, if compensation should ever be 
 derived, as stated in his Excellency the Governor’s minute, from 
 the sale of the alienated lauds, then the only probability of success 
 will be found in the adoption of such a scheme as shall hold out a 
 strong inducement to the claimants to purchase, and which shall, 
 at the same time, embrace a provision relieving the ordinary 
 revenue of the colony from any portion of the onerous burden. 
 
 35. The board would further remark upon this point, that it is 
 in perfect concurrence with the intimation which has been made 
 on the subject by her Majesty’s Government, the right honourable 
 the Secretary of State for the Colonies having stated, in reply to 
 a petition of the sufferers for compensation : 
 
 “ Undoubtedly the colonists are entitled to expect that such 
 reparation for the losses they have sustained as the Kafirs are 
 capable of affording should be required; and likewise, that the 
 best practicable arrangement should be made for averting the 
 danger of a recurrence of such calamities.” ( Vide dispatch of the 
 right honourable Earl Grey to his Excellency Sir Peregrine 
 Maitland, dated August, 1846.) 
 
 36. In closing this report, the board deem it compatible with 
 their duty to urge upon the attention of her Majesty’s Government 
 the claims of the sufferers whose cases they have been called upon 
 to investigate. That investigation, they cannot hesitate to declare, 
 has impressed them most deeply with the intrinsic justice of the 
 claims preferred. They have had before them the ruined farmer, 
 reduced, with his helpless family, from comparative comfort to 
 absolute penury, not arising from any fault of his own, or from the 
 neglect of any prudential means for his own security, but simply 
 from perseverance by his Government, against his entreaties and 
 oft reiterated remonstrances, in measures which resulted in his 
 ruin. 
 
 The board, too, record their unqualified conviction that the 
 aggression made upon the colony was entirely unprovoked ; no 
 colonist is suspected even of offence to give cause for hostilities 
 on the part of the Kafirs. The destruction of the claimants’ 
 property was, therefore, an act of wanton spoliation, upon which 
 the sufferers are, upon every principle of equity, entitled to redress 
 and compensation at the hands of the aggressors. r Ihey now, 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 !7th June, 
 I 860 . 
 
40 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BERORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th J Line, 
 
 1SG0. 
 
 therefore, dutifully and constitutionally prefer their claims, in 
 reliance upon the justice and humanity of their Government to 
 award them such redress as may be compatible with the merits of 
 their case and with the honour and dignity of the British name. 
 
 By order of the Board, 
 
 W. COCK, Chairman. 
 
 Colonial Office, 11th April, 1850. 
 
 To the Honourable W. Cock. 
 
 Sir, —In acknowledging the receipt of your letters of the 28th 
 and the 19th ult., together with the reports, &c., of the board 
 appointed to examine the claims of sufferers by the late Kafir 
 war, and the box of records, &c., which was received by the 
 steamer Phoenix, yesterday, I am directed by his Excellency the 
 Governor to convey to you and the other members of the board 
 his thanks for the services which you have so readily and ably 
 rendered. 
 
 2. In reply, I am to acquaint you that a copy of the report, 
 &c., &c., will be duly forwarded to the Secretary of State, but that 
 as his Lordship has already distinctly laid down the principle that 
 these claims, if satisfied at all, must be satisfied from colonial 
 resoui’ces, or rather from such reparation as can be obtained from 
 the enemy, his Excellency cannot hold out any hope that the 
 claimants will receive any kind of compensation from her Majesty’s 
 Government. 
 
 3. In his Excellency’s minute of the 27th June, 1848, referred 
 to by the board, it was clearly stated that there were other claims 
 upon the territory then recently added to the colony which must 
 be satisfied before the land could be made available for the pay¬ 
 ment of these compensation claims. Tbe preferent demands herein 
 alluded to are the payment of the civil and judicial administration 
 of the new divisions, the maintenance of military villages, the 
 payment of commando claims, if they should not be discharged by 
 the British treasury, the establishment and maintenance of a 
 frontier military and Kafir police, and a fair proportion of the 
 other permanent expenses of the frontier. The payment of the 
 commando claims has since been undertaken by her Majesty’s 
 Government, but the other demands upon the land fund remain in 
 force, and, as no reason has ever been given to suppose that the 
 principle of preferring these demands would be departed from, his 
 Excellency cannot urge the proposals now made by the board 
 upon the Secretary of State. 
 
 4. Adhering to the principle laid down in his Excellency’s 
 minute, I am instructed to inform you that the claims detailed in 
 the board’s report cannot be satisfied until sufficient lands shall 
 have been sold to meet them, after the payment of all preferent 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 41 
 
 demands. His Excellency had hoped that this would have been 
 the case ere now; but the results of the land sales which have 
 hitherto taken place in the Victoria division have greatly 
 disappointed him. Large quantities of land have been offered for 
 sale in that division, but no competition has been excited; only a 
 few lots were purchased, and those, generally, at the upset price. 
 Under these circumstances, his Excellency has no course to 
 pursue but to postpone consideration of the claims which form the 
 subject of the board’s report, until the demand for land in the 
 division of Victoria becoming greater, a fund may be created for 
 their satisfaction, that being the only source from which it can be 
 obtained for that object. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) JOHN MONTAGU, 
 
 Secretary to (jovernment. 
 
 218. Mr. Stanton.] After having sustained those losses, 
 did you ever receive anything in part payment from the 
 Government?—Not a stiver. 
 
 219. Did you save any portion of your stock during the 
 war?—Yes; a great deal. 
 
 220. Then the account you have handed in is merely for 
 the balance of the loss actually sustained ?—Yes. 
 
 221. After the war, were you compelled to dispose of the 
 remaining portion of your property ?—Yes. 
 
 222. How do you account for that ?—I had been at 
 considerable expense in erecting the buildings on my farm; 
 1 had not the means to complete them, and was forced to 
 sell. The house alone was hardly completed when the war 
 broke out, and it cost me £500. 
 
 223. Then previous to the war your prospects were good? 
 —Very good. 
 
 224. Have you been able to recover your position since?— 
 No. 
 
 225. Then you have never been able to recover your 
 position in consequence of the losses you sustained in the 
 war ?—No ; I had to seek other means of subsistence. 
 
 226. Did you get any timely warning previous to the war 
 breaking out?—No; we gave Government warning. 
 
 227. Was that warning attended to by Government ?— 
 No; and although we received assurances from both Govern¬ 
 ments that no war was at that time probable, a war of nearly 
 two years’ duration immediately after this broke out. 
 
 A. 19.—’60. KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION— G 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 1860. 
 
42 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27 th June, 
 1860. 
 
 228. Do you consider that if the public warnings had 
 been attended to when they were given, a great deal of the 
 losses might have been prevented ?—I think that war might 
 have been prevented by putting it out of the power of the 
 Chiefs to do wrong, which, I think, could have been done. 
 
 229 Mr. Scanlen .] Had such precautionary measures 
 then been adopted by the Government, as at the late crisis by 
 Sir George Grey and General Jackson, it would have 
 prevented war?—Yes. 
 
 230. Did you ever make any application for Government 
 lands taken from the Kafirs?—Yes, I applied in 1848. I 
 beg to put in an extract of my letter to the Acting Colonial 
 Secretary, Mr. Southey, dated 24th June, 1848: 
 
 “ After a connection of eight years with the colony, I find 
 myself poorer by £5,800 than when my connection with it began. 
 My means are, in consequence, insufficient to purchase a farm at 
 the Knysna, but finding that a large tract of Government land at 
 present is unoccupied in the neighbourhood, the keeping of which 
 entails an expense on Government, I beg respectfully to request 
 that the claim for losses which I have already made, in compliance 
 with the orders of Government, may be commuted for so much 
 unappropriated land in this district as may be considered by his 
 Excellency sufficient for building a dwelling-house, and out¬ 
 houses, and depasturing 300 to 400 head of cattle, 1,000 sheep, 
 and 100 horses. 
 
 “ His Excellency may require me to state why I do not apply 
 for land on the immediate frontier. I beg to say that my children 
 are far too young to have anything to do but to get educated, and 
 I do not think the present state of the frontier promises very 
 much for the education of boys of eight or ten years old.” 
 
 231. Chairman .] What answer did you get?—The reply 
 was unfavourable; it was stated that the request could not 
 be complied with. 
 
 232. Did you make any other application?—Yes, in 1857 
 and 1858, the reply to which was also unfavourable. 
 
 233. Mr. Bosman.\ Did you afterwards apply again ? — 
 No; not since then. 
 
 234. Chairman. ] Did you not apply, after that, to 
 Parliament?—Yes; I have presented petitions to both 
 Houses of Parliament, and the last was during the present 
 session. 
 
 235. Mr. Stanton. ] Were you ever led to think, by any 
 correspondence with the Home Government or any 
 dispatches you have seen, that compensation would be made 
 for losses?—Yes; the Secretary of State, in answer to a 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 43 
 
 letter I had the honour of addressing to Lord Stanley, on the 
 8th June, 1858, conveyed, through the Local Government, 
 his opinion that the consideration of the claims of the 
 sufferers by the wars must be left for decision and adjustment 
 to the discretion of the Colonial Parliament. 
 
 The following letter, above referred to, was handed in: 
 
 Cape Town, 8th June, 1858. 
 
 The Right Honourable Lord Stanley, 
 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 
 My Lord, — I have the honour to enclose a copy of a petition 
 addressed bv myself to the House of Assembly, sitting in Cape 
 Town, in April last, in reference to certain accounts of prize 
 property taken from the enemy in the war of 1846-7. 
 
 By direction of the Local Government, the British frontier 
 farmers who were sufferers by that war sent their accounts of 
 losses to a Commissioner appointed by the Government to examine 
 them, for the purpose of compensation from the proceeds of the 
 captured property. 
 
 The administration of this property having been intrusted to 
 the Local Government the sufferers naturally looked to that 
 Government for accounts of its disposal, and in the session of 
 1857 an order was made by the Legislative Council for the pro¬ 
 duction of accounts, and in the session of 1858, just ended, a 
 similar motion was carried in the House of Assembly; in both 
 instances the Local Government consented to furnish the accounts 
 prayed for, but those accounts are not produced, nor has the 
 Government offered any satisfactory reason for withholding them 
 for so long a time- 
 
 These dilatory operations have led to a belief that the Local 
 Government is not in earnest in professing sympathy for the 
 sufferers of the war of 1846-7, at the same time withholding 
 accounts which are indispensable to a fair distribution of the 
 captured property, and that an intention exists to apply the 
 property to other purposes than those originally contemplated. 
 To dispel this growing feeling of distrust in the intentions of the 
 Local Government, and and to bring the question to a certain 
 satisfactory issue, I take the liberty respectfully to submit the 
 question to your lordship, whether the Local Government is in a 
 position to set up the provisions of any regulation of its own as an 
 answer to a claim made under a law which rules prior in point of 
 time, and in point of authority is above that of the Local 
 Parliament and the Governor in Council of the Cape of Good 
 Hope. 
 
 It is this law which, I humbly submit, gives to the suffering 
 borderers of this colony a title to compensation out of the property 
 acquired from the enemy, and renders the Local Government 
 responsible for its distribution, and therefore any adverse opinion 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 1860. 
 
44 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 Mr. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th June, 
 1860. 
 
 which the Local Government may entertain as against the sufferers, 
 can give it no right to appropriate to its own purposes the property 
 in question, without rendering an account to the claimants, and 
 giving an equivalent for such of the acquired lands as have been 
 applied to purposes foreign to those originally intended and set 
 forth under the sanction of the Home Government. 
 
 The giving or withholding accounts from the sufferers cannot, I 
 humbly submit, impair their claim to compensation, nor will it be 
 admitted that the Local Government is entitled to immunity from 
 a law which has hitherto been so scrupulously kept and wisely 
 administered by the parent state, whose watchful eye and strong 
 arm have hitherto been ready to protect its own people against 
 wrong and violence, whether plundered by the inside barbarians 
 of China or made the victims of not very humane experiments by 
 Greek ingenuity. 
 
 Humbly submitting the question to the decision of your 
 lordship, 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 (Signed) J. C. FAIR. 
 
 236. Did you receive that communication direct, or 
 merely from documents published ?—I received it direct 
 from the Local Government here. 
 
 237. Mr. Walter.] Are you acquainted with any lands 
 on the frontier, taken from the Kafirs, which could at present 
 be made available for the purpose of compensation. You 
 are aware that after almost every war the Government has 
 been enriched by large tracts of land; from the war of 1846 
 and also after the last war?—Yes; the latest accession of 
 land was Vadana's, near the Kei. 
 
 238. What extent of lands is there?—lam not prepared 
 to say, but it is very considerable. 
 
 239. Is there sufficient land, do you think, for the 
 claimants of 1846 and 1851 ?—I am not prepared to say, as 
 I do not know what the claims of 1851 are; I had left the 
 frontier after the war of 1846. I think there are many cases 
 of lands having been granted to persons who have lost very 
 little or nothing in the war, but who were paid for their 
 services in the war. I cannot understand with what colour 
 of equity persons who lost nothing were paid for their 
 services in this war, whilst some who risked their all, and 
 others who lost all, got nothing. 
 
 240. It has been stated that nearly the whole of the 
 sufferers during the Kafir wars have either abandoned or sold 
 
SELECT COMMITTEE ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 45 
 
 their claims on Government, not expecting any compensation ; 
 are you aware that such is the case ? — I know of many 
 persons in my neighbourhood who abandoned their claims in 
 disgust with the Government, but I do not know of any 
 cases of parties who have sold their claims, though I have 
 heard of parties having had offers for their claims, though 
 whether they have sold them or not I cannot say. 
 
 Committee adjourned. 
 
 Friday, 2 9th June , 1860. 
 
 present: 
 
 Mr. Stanton (Chairman), 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker, | Mr. Scanlen. 
 
 Mr. T. H. Bowker, Member of the Committee, examined. 
 
 241. Mr. Scanlen.] You were one of the settlers of 1820 ? 
 —Yes. 
 
 242. Were you on the frontier from that time until the 
 breaking out of the war of 1835?—I was; I resided on the 
 immediate frontier. 
 
 243. You are aware that the settlers sustained severe 
 losses?—I am. 
 
 244. What do you attribute the war of 1835 to?—It was 
 an unprovoked attack; the Kafirs simply took advantage 
 of the defenceless state of the country to plunder the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 245. Were you one of those who sustained great losses in 
 that war?—Yes; our family lost almost the whole of their 
 large stock, consisting, at that time, of about 1,050 cattle, 
 2,000 fine-woolled sheep, and 40 horses, and the crops. 
 
 246. At the time of the flight of the inhabitants to Graham’s 
 Town, was your family amongst them ?—Yes; but I was in 
 Oliphant’s Hoek at the time. 
 
 247. Do you know that the cattle were abandoned at Blue 
 Krantz?—I am aware that many thousands of cattle were 
 abandoned there ; orders had been issued not to bring the 
 cattle to Graham’s Town, consequently they were abandoned 
 and fell into the hands of the Kafirs. 
 
 M r. 
 
 J. C. Fair. 
 
 27th! (I June, 
 1860. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 T. H. Bowker. 
 
 29 th June, 
 1860. 
 
Mr. 
 
 T. H. Bowker. 
 
 29th June, 
 1860. 
 
 4G MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE 
 
 248. Have you any idea of the amount of loss sustained 
 by the frontier inhabitants ?—After the payment of the cattle 
 certificates, which amount to 15 per cent., there remained 
 something over £300,000, according to the return of the 
 Government commissioner, Mr. Hadso, and the civil com¬ 
 missioner, Captain Campbell. 
 
 249. Where did you reside when the war of 1840 broke 
 out?—At the Koonap. 
 
 250. Was there a general impression, previous to the war 
 breaking out, that the Kafirs were plotting mischief?-—Yes ; 
 there was a very strong feelmg on the subject. 
 
 251. Are you aware of any reports made by the inhabit¬ 
 ants to the Government, warning them of the danger that 
 was impending?—I am; there was a number of public 
 meetings held, and not addresses, but remonstrances, were 
 sent to the Government, to endeavour to arouse them to 
 a sense of danger. 
 
 252. Did the people form camps for their security after 
 this?—Yes; they soon after formed themselves into camps (a 
 second time). 
 
 253. Did these camps ever receive any military reinforce¬ 
 ments ?—None whatever. 
 
 254. Were the parties enabled to preserve their stock in 
 those camps?—Very few of them; many of them suffered 
 continual attacks, both by night and by day, and the stock 
 that was not carried off by the Kafirs mostly perished for 
 want of food. 
 
 255. Did you sustain any losses at that time ?—Yes, very 
 severe losses; when we assembled at the camp we had about 
 32,000 sheep and goats, at the close of the war they were 
 reduced to about 6,000. 
 
 256. Have you any knowledge of the general state of the 
 losses sustained by the inhabitants in that war ?—Yes ; stock 
 had increased in numbers and in value; the losses were 
 greater than in the war of 1835. One gentleman near us 
 lost 18,000 sheep. 
 
 257. Are you aware that a board was appointed to in¬ 
 vestigate the claims?—Sir Henry Pottinger appointed Mr. 
 R. Burgass to take an account of the losses, with the inten¬ 
 tion of compensation, by award, to the sufferers. 
 
 258. Was there any other board appointed?—Upon the 
 arrival of Sir Harry Smith he submitted, on 27th June, 1848, 
 a Government minute to the Legislative Council, proposing 
 
SELECT COMMITTI-.E ON KAFIR WAR COMPENSATION. 47 
 
 to apply the waste lands of Victoria and Albert to the 
 purposes of compensating the losses ; after which there was 
 a commission appointed to investigate the whole of the 
 losses. 
 
 259. Were any steps taken by Government to carry out 
 the object of the commission ? —The lands set apart for com¬ 
 pensation were offered to public competition, but they 
 realized so little, in consequence of the continued insecure 
 state of the border, that the further sales were postponed by 
 the Government until such time as the land should rise in 
 value. (See letter of Colonial Secretary, 11th April, 1850.) 
 
 260. Were those lands taken from the Kafirs?—They 
 were partly taken from the Kafirs, and partly were desert 
 lands lying along the border. 
 
 261. Were any grants of lands given in compensation ?— 
 None that I know of. 
 
 262. To what purpose, since that time, has Government 
 devoted those lands ?—At the close of the late rebellion 
 nearly the whole of them were applied by the late Sir George 
 Cathcart to the purpose of creating a system of border 
 defence by an armed occupation by grantees, who held the 
 lands on condition that they kept themselves at all times in 
 readiness to defend the border, and agreeing to furnish one 
 armed and mounted man for each thousand acres of land 
 beyond that individually represented. 
 
 263. Was this just towards the sufferers who expected 
 compensation?—No; but it was necessary for the public 
 defence of the colony, which could not be maintained any 
 longer without it. There were plenty of other lands which 
 thp Government possessed, which could have been substituted 
 in place of those that were diverted from their original 
 purpose. 
 
 264. Did not the Government, at the end of each war, 
 return a vast amount of property to the Kafirs?—Yes; at the 
 close of each war the Government found itself in possession 
 of vast extents of new territory, much more than would have 
 been required to compensate the whole of the losses, but the 
 Kafirs either were allowed to return or had the lands formally 
 given back to them, while the sufferers were put off with 
 promises for compensation, none of which have ever been 
 fulfilled. 
 
 265. What do you attribute the negligence of Government 
 in this matter to?—Mainly to the fact of the sufferers being 
 
 Mr. 
 
 T. H. Bowher. 
 
 29th June, 
 1860. 
 
48 
 
 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, ETC. 
 
 Mr. 
 
 T. H. Bowker. 
 
 29th June, 
 1860. 
 
 seven or eight hundred miles from the seat of Government, 
 and to the small share of influence that the sufferers possessed. 
 I can see no reason why the inhabitants of the frontiers of 
 the Cape of Good Hope should be an exception to a general 
 rule. British subjects in all other lands receive compensation 
 for such losses as the Government may have been unable to 
 protect them against—in Canada, China, Jeddo, India, and 
 other places—even at the Cape of Good Hope compensation 
 in full has been awarded to certain parties; missionary 
 property has generally been compensated in full, as at 
 Butterworth, Shiloh, Kat River, and the Chumie. There 
 are yet vast extents of waste land along and beyond the 
 border applicable for compensation, besides large extents 
 within the colony, which are being sold for trifling prices, 
 that ought to be substituted in place of the lands of Victoria 
 and Albert, which have been successfully applied to purposes 
 of public defence.