254 THE FUTURE OF THE BANTU TEOPLE. 



worth. All men who understood him felt that death had created 

 a blank which never could be filled.'' Mr. Chalmers, who knew 

 him intimately, adds : " Other Kaffn- preachers may arise ; some 

 more eloquent, others more brilliant, but at its best civilization can 

 never produce another Tiyo Soga." It produced him ; and his 

 civilization was that of only one generation. What Bantu blood 

 might have further developed we are prevented from ascertain- 

 ing, because he married a European woman ; and his children — 

 who were men and women of considerable ability, may have 

 acquired something from their mother. 



Let me mention a second name — Solomon Plaatje, whose 

 parents were Baralongs, and who is now quite a young man. 



He attended the Lutheran School at Pniel, and rose to be a 

 teacher there. At i6 he became a letter-carrier in the Kimberley 

 Post Office, where he learnt languages in his spare time, and 

 passed the Cape Civil Service Examination in typewriting, Dutch, 

 and native languages, heading the list of successful candidates in 

 each subject. He went to Mafeking as interpreter ; was there 

 during the siege, and did the work of a confidential clerk to the 

 magistrate. The war over, he became an editor, and is now, I 

 believe, conducting a newspaper at Kimberley. He is one of a small 

 deputation of natives that went to England in connection witli the 

 Native Land Act of 1913, and while there he wrote and published 

 a book entitled " Native Life in South Africa." 



A book may be regarded from two points of view : its subject 

 matter may interest us, or we may study its language and style. 

 This book is a polemic : a strong — indeed, a very strong statement 

 of the grievances Sol. Plaatje considers the natives have against 

 the Government and Parliament of this country. As such it 

 cannot interest a scientific association. But the style in which it 

 is written may be worthy of attention, and I think it is. I confess 

 it is difficult to separate the style from the matter, and am 

 reminded of the story of a man, during the present war, in Dublin 

 Avho asked another man on the street how he could get to the 

 infirmary. The answer he received was: "Shout three cheers for 

 the Kaiser, and you will be there in ten minutes." There are 

 many portions of this book which, if read in Capetown or 

 Stellenbosch, would secure the carrying of the reader quickly 

 to the hospital. But here is an extract which may be quoted as 

 illustrative of the writer's familiarity with the English language, 

 of his ability to express himself in that language. 



" A noteworthy occasion in connection with the cam]:)aign 

 was our visit to the Southall Brotherhood on Sunday, Alarch 14th. 

 We can hardly forget the day. It was on Crocus Sunda\-. when 

 thousands of Londoners went to Hampton Court in crowds to 

 see the crocus bulbs in bloom. It was a glorious day, and we 

 remembered it as the second day in 191 5 on which the European 

 sun shone through a cloudless sky from sunrise to sunset. Thou- 

 sands of people attended at Hyde Park to witness the church 

 parade, and still more thousands took advantage of the glorious 

 s]:)ring day, after a strenuous winter, to flock to Epping Forest and 

 other popular resorts." 



