142 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION E. 



sition in the tenure of the land, as well as in the. other great 

 departments of Hfe. We therefore turn in these directions in 

 search of further Hght, and from this point onward we propose 

 to trace the developments that have been proceeding in various 

 directions in order to shew up the transition from different 

 angles, and at the same time to I'eveal the extent to which the 

 movement towards' individualism has been carried. Up to the 

 present we have concerned ourselves in the main with the back- 

 ground in order to show clearly the rigidity C'f the tribal sys- 

 tem ; the remaining factors, however, may be regarded more in 

 the light of foreground, since we shall be tracing the more 

 modern development from this hidebound commimism, and the 

 effect in a general way of the reactions towards individualism. 



4. The Passing of Communal Tenure. 



The natives in their original state, before the white colonists 

 came into conflict with them, lived a pastoral life, wandering 

 about with their herds from place to place in search of pasturage, 

 and cultivating small patches of garden to meet immediate needs. 

 In this primitive state cattle, sheep, and goats represented the 

 wealth of the native, and Kaffir corn, pumpkins, mealies, and 

 sugar cane were to be found in the garden, which was only an 

 after-thought, the care of the womenfolk. Through all the 

 troublous times of early native history this arrangement was 

 the only feasible one, for at all times the tribe must be ready to 

 fly at a moment's notice, on the approach of a hostile force, with 

 the precious cattle to a place of safety. The first suggestion of 

 limitation came with the impact of the black man against the 

 Eastward tide of white emigration, and for a long period of 

 years the Eastern Border of the Colony was in a state of the 

 utmost confusion due to the constant inroads of the natives. 

 During all this time the natives returned again and again to 

 drive oft" the cattle of the Colonial farmers, thousands being 

 secured in this way; in fact, so great was the state of confusion, 

 due to the constant alarms and to actual losses of cattle, that it 

 was one Oif the main causes of the Great Trek, which began in 



Into all the details of this disturbed ]jeriod we do not pro- 

 pose here to enter. Various expedients had been tried without 

 success, until Lord Charles Somerset built a chain of forts along 

 the frontier at suitable intervals, so that if the natives did pene- 

 trate into the Colony and drive off cattle, it would be possible, 

 by signalling to these distant forts, to prevent the cattle from 

 being driven over the frontier into Kaffirland. A second line 

 of forts was built further west, within the ])recincts of the 

 Colony, and the whole establishmetit absorbed 1,062 soldiers, 

 together with 42 officers. This constituted for all practical pur- 

 poses an impenetrable barrier, and, as already indicated, by 

 enforcing the Fish River Boundary, was the first real suggestion 

 of the enclosure of the land to reach the slow-moving native 

 mind. 



