Skction U.— ANTHROJHJlAHi^'. inilNOl.UGV, JiULCA- 

 TION. HISTORY. MENTAL SCIENCR. PHILOUKiY, 

 POLITICAL ECONOMY, SOCIOLOGY. AND STATIS- 

 TICS. 



rresidcnt of the Section: Mal'Kkk S. E\ans^ C.M.Cj.. E.Z.S. 



THURSDAY, JULY 6. 



The President delivered the follo\vin<( ackh-ess : — 



A Survey of the Past and Present Relations of the Euro- 

 pean AND Bantu Racks in Natal and Surrounding 

 Territories. 



Had time permitted. I would have liked to make this short 

 review of the relations of the two principal races which inhabit 

 South Africa one which would have also embraced the other 

 races of the sub-continent. 



For we must remember that we have, in addition to the 

 outstanding racial question, which J briefly discuss, three other 

 sub-problems, each one of which would be sufficiently important 

 in any country less problem-ridden than South Africa. There 

 is the question of Dutch and English, which absorbs far too much 

 time and attention both in the country and Parliament ; the Asia- 

 tic question, which, fortunately, is now limited to those already 

 in the country ; and the coloured question. In Natal this last 

 is of comparatively small moment, but I have been travelling- 

 lately in the West and North-West portions of the Cape Pro- 

 vince, and I find that it is there a very serious matter indeed. I 

 earnestly wish that someone competent would study the life con- 

 ditions and prospects of these coloured ])eople, for it is a question 

 only second in importance to that of P)lack and White, with 

 which I now deal. 



In my title I speak of the ])ast of the Haiitu and Euro])eau 

 peoples, but I want to limit my reference to the past to some 

 40 or 45 years ago. when I first landed in Natal. From the first 

 I was charmed with the country, and took the greatest interest in 

 all phases of life it presented, and. perhaps, as something specially- 

 new and strange, ])articularly in the life, manners, and customs 

 of the Hantu peoi)le. With men who knew the people intimately 

 I went into the native reserves of Natal, staying at trading posts, 

 mission stations, and at the kraals of the natives. Not long 

 afterwards I had o])portunities to visit Zululand. Basutoland, 

 Griqualand East, and some of the more remote ])arts of the 

 Transvaal. Everywhere I observed the life of the jjeople. and 

 my memory still pictures the scenes visited and the ])eople I met, 

 and from memory and notes then made 1 think I can reconstruct 

 a fairly accurate picture of the social conditions of that time in 

 the area of which I speak. 



