THE KAP-TENT V/AGON. 



By James Young Gibson. 



{Read, July 13, 1918.) 



(Plate 24.) 



According to an observation of Froude in his "Life of Caesar," 

 there would appear to have been three epochs known to history 

 which were characterised by wagon-dweUino-. He says of the 

 Teutons and Cimbri, that they " travelled with their wives and 

 children, their wagons, as with the ancient Scythians and with 

 the modern South African Dutch, being at once their conveyance 

 and their homes." The period of time which divided the first 

 of these two epochs may not be easily definable. The Scythians, 

 having had their day, are said to have " disappeared from his- 

 tory," or so far lost their national identity that writers were no 

 longer able to refer to them as a distinct people, about 100 B.C. ; 

 the final suppression by the Romans of the Teutons and Cimbri 

 occurred about the same time, but one understands that the wagon- 

 dwelling habits of the Scythians is referred to as " ancient " in 

 relation to it. Whatever interest may attach to this question, it 

 is clear that between the second and the last, or Dutch epoch, well- 

 nigh 2,000 years elapsed. Whether it may be possible to recon- 

 struct a type of these ancient wagons, or of either of them, I 

 do not know ; that which served a temporary and important 

 purpose in modern Dutch pioneering fell out of use during the 

 19th century, and has so far disappeared that the preservation 

 of a likeness of it has become an object of some interest. 



The time at which wagon-dwelling became a habit in South 

 Africa has not been definitely noted by historians. One gathers 

 from the diary of Adam Tas, written in the first decade of the 

 i8th century, that the vehicles then in use at the Cape had 

 carrying for their object, and that their carrying capacity was 

 small. On the ist of July, 179S, he writes: "Despatched three 

 leggers of wine to the Cape, two wagons hired from Barend 

 Lubbe and one of our own." From this it would appear that 

 about three hogsheads constituted a load. Although the diarist 

 notes with considerable detail the events of his daily life, he 

 makes no mention anywhere of the wagon as a travelling convey- 

 ance. Its purpose, so far as indicated, was to carry produce to 

 the market town, and to bring thence the things needed at the 

 farm home. It is noteworthy also that it was driven by his 

 " man," from which one infers that the farmer did not at that 

 time drive his own wagon. The diary contains no reference 

 to a " tent " or tilt, nor does it indicate what protection was 

 afforded by the vehicle to the carried goods or driver from rain. 

 The period covered by Tas's diary was one of transition in 

 the economics of the Cape. The original scheme of settlement 

 had had for its object the victuallinor of ships through agriculture 

 performed by servants of the East India Company. This had 



