398 Repoht 8. a. a. Advaxckmbnt of Soiknoe. 



of more u«e to the Company than that of the freemen living near the 

 Castle. The directors recognised the necessity of liaving an agricul- 

 tural popuUition, and KycklofF van Goens, leaving an instruction to 

 Van Riebeek in 1657, closed with these remarkable words: " UE. tot 

 slot nochmael recommanderende boven alles den aenbou van graenen te 

 niaintineren ; want wy connen hier geen Edellieden warden, \oor dat 

 eerst goede Jioeren geweest zyn " (recommending you again for the last 

 time to stick to the cultivation of corn ; for we cannot become Xohh- 

 meti before having been good Peasants). 



Those who settled near the Castle made a living by keeping lodging- 

 houses for officials and others from the ships, who enjoyed their stay 

 under a nice climate where fruit, wine, meat and milk were abundant; 

 they sold fowls, vegetables, <kc., to the crews ; some of the burghers 

 were oil manufacturers : others were lime-burners, innkeepers, dealers 

 in tobacco, oil, salt, itc, owners of fishing boats, Arc. The privilege of 

 being allowed to follow these occupations was farmed out to the highest 

 bidder. The Company wished them to keep pigs, too, but this was not 

 to their liking ; Van Riebeek started to make it compulsor\' for those 

 who wished to settle near tlie fortress. They had no objection against 

 keeping sheep, whose milk was of use to the crews. The sums brought 

 in by tlie farming out of these pi-ivileges were considerable, as will be 

 seen from the table on p. .399. 



Gradually a distinction is to be seen between farmers and town 

 burghers (" vrij-landbouwers en vrij burgers "). In town a fire picket 

 and a fire brigade were formed ; also night patrols and a militia 

 ("schutterij "). Roads and bridges were to be kept clean and in 

 good condition by tlie burghers. The citizens were represented by 

 " Burgherraden " in the high court of justice; at Stellenbosch tbe 

 farmers had a voice in the rnanagement of affairs through their repre- 

 sentatives, the "Heemniden." Burghers were members of the court 

 for trying petty civil cases. 



There is no reason to pity the colonists at the Cape in the seven- 

 teentlt centuiy. Those who were unfit or unwilling to work or not 

 successful left the Cape, either voluntarily for Mauritius or India, or 

 were sent to Holland by the Company. In this way those who re- 

 mained came to form an industrious Soutli African nation, that grew 

 up under very favourable circumstances. In case they had complaints, 

 they could lay them before the liigh commissioners, like Van Rheede, 

 &nd officials of the Company who were found guilty were severely 

 punished. 



Of course the colonists were by no means faultless angels. Tirey 

 had the good qualities of the Dutch of the seventeenth century as well 

 as their weak sides, .\mong these were smuggling and the making of 

 illicit profits, but how many well-educated Europeans of our days try 

 to cheat at the Customs for a couple of shillings? They induced 

 soldiers, sailors and slaves, who were anxious to get some money for a 

 drink or annisement, to sell their clothes at a very low pi-ice. As we 

 have seen, debauches were stopped ; but the Company, which made 

 large profits from the wine, ])randy, beer and ari'ack solri by the inn- 



