113 



THE EAELY DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



BY 



C. Graham Botha, 



Chief Archivist for tJic Union of South. Africa. 



3u)n))iary of Public Evening Lecture, delivered July 13, 1922. 



In speaking of the early development of South Africa we 

 must not forget the deeds of the early navigators and the land 

 pioneers. We are too aj)t to forget them, or not give them the 

 high plac3 to which they are entitled. We owe a great deal to 

 them, and to-day we are sometimes inclined to look upon our 

 progress with satisfaction, as if we were the sole actors, and to 

 ignore what our forefathers have achieved. In many respects 

 they have helped us to attain the place which we hold. It is a 

 happy coincidence that this lecture is given in the country of our 

 neighbours, the Portuguese. It is to thsm that, not only South 

 Africa, but the world in general owes a debt of gratitude. By the 

 deeds of their daring navigators towards the end of the 15th 

 century an ocean route from Europe to India was opened. It 

 was certainly one of the greatest events of the world's history. 

 The names of Dias and da Gama should hold a prominent place 

 in the history of South Africa. If we look at the names along 

 our coast line we find reminders of those early days. The bays 

 of St. Helena, Saldanha, St. Sebastian, Algoa were named by 

 the Portuguese, as were most of the others, but some have 

 changed with the passing of time. The Capes Agulhas, Vacca, 

 St. Blaize and Recife are further evidences. 



Little attention was paid to the southernmost portion of 

 Africa for several centuries. After the Portuguese came Dutch 

 and English navigators, who vised the Cape of Good Hope as their 

 half-way place of call on their way to the East. Except for an 

 attempt two centuries ago by the English to possess themselves 

 of the country by erecting their flag on the heights lising above 

 Table Bay, no serious steps were made to take physical possession 

 of the land until 1652. The Dutch East India Company saw the 

 possibilities of establishing a permanent refreshment station on 

 the shores of Table Bay. They were not aiming at setting up a 

 colony, for colonisation was not a part of their programme. But 

 gradually the country became during the early part of, the 18th 

 century a flourishing agricultural colony, and this movement could 

 not be stayed by them. The dangers, trials and tribulations which 

 the 18th century colonists endured should give them also a high 

 respect in our history. As in most new countries inhabited by 

 natives, and, for that matter, by wild animals, life was no<- 

 altogether a bed of roses. The Company was at first satisfied to 

 supply its garrison and the fleets touching here with the cattle 

 bartered from the natives and the produce of the soil which they 

 worked themselves. In course of time they found this to be 

 unsatisfactoiy and expensive, and encouraged colonists to settle 



