NATIVK ACiRLCULTLKi:. 183 



might expect trees to be ])lantetl : already some have sufficient 

 wisdom to see that it is (|uite worth while planting, protecting, 

 and watering the _\-oung trees until they are strong enough to 

 hold tlieir own against the attentions of goats, and cattle, and 

 drought. Flow dilTerent the Transkei would be if every native 

 kraal liad several full-grown trees at hand ! 



Hut, even a])art from the uses and conveniences of trees 

 near to the dwellings of the people, we must not forget the 

 value of the wood and bark for industrial purposes. For 

 instance, the wattle bark industry may be well developed here< 

 for the wattle grows readily anywhere in the Territory. The 

 importance attached to forestry, and the need for augmenting 

 the suj)])lv of wood in view of future needs, has already been 

 realised, and tlie Ti'anskeian (ieneral Council ';i)ends large sums 

 of money annuall}- in the conservation and extension of forests, 

 but as yet nothing is done tn encourage the individual to plant 

 trees for liis own use. 



Tn this matter, as in agriculture jM-oper, the primitive ideas 

 and methods liave been allowc'l to ])ersist even unto this dav. 



3. Till-: ( )ll) AIethods. 



In the earliest da}-s. when the first missionaries and pioneers 

 entered the countrw the\' found that a wooden implement 

 resembling the paddle of a cani>e \\as used by the natives in 

 the cultivation of their lands. .Vgriculture was relegated to 

 the women and sla\es, while the men engaged in hunting and 

 warfare, never in agriculture. In any case, the tribes wan- 

 dered al)()Ut a good deal, sometimes attacking others, and at 

 other times repelling attacks, and conse([uently, in the uncer- 

 tainty, cultivation was neglected. 



The Rev. William Shaw, in his book'-'' published in i860, 

 says that 



Multitudes perished b}- famine, while in stmie cases small tribes 

 became cannibals, in consequence of the impossibility of obtaining the 

 ordinary means of subsistence. There is reason to believe that during 

 a period of about 18 years, terminating in 1835. "ot less than one-half of 

 the entire population of the inmiense region described above was 

 destroyer] by these terrific native wars. 



Chaka, chief of the Amazulu. living west of Delaooa Bav, 

 trained his hordes and fought east, west, north, and south, over 

 an area of more than 100,000 square miles. From Delagoa 

 Bay to the Gri([ua country near Orange River, and from the 

 Barutzee country in the north to that of Amampondo on the 

 south, was one scene of war and desolation — i.e., 1820-1835, 

 abotit. 



At this time, then, the women sowed the seed, and removed 

 the weeds from the " cultivated '" land, and as the men were 

 away all day hunting, or engaged in warfare, it fell to the lot 

 of the w^omen to protect the iields from the depredations of 



The Storv of Mv Mission." 



