THE FUTURE OF CAPE COLONY. 409 



the first English Governor of the Cape, afterwards 

 widely known as Sir John Barrow, secretary to the 

 Admiralty, observes, " The Government foresaw 

 that a spirit of industry, if encouraged, in a mild 

 and temperate climate and on a fertile soil, might 

 one day produce a society impatient of the shackles 

 imposed on it by the parent State. It knew that 

 to supply its subjects the wants of life without the 

 toil of labour or the anxiety of care ; to keep 

 them in ignorance and to prevent a ready inter- 

 course with each other, were the most likely means 

 to counteract such a spirit." This is a heavy 

 impeachment, but it would seem to contain the 

 elements of truth. 



One of the main difficulties in developing the 

 Cape Colony has been the extraordinarily tenacious 

 hold retained by the Dutch population upon 

 territory which they themselves have never attempted 

 to utilize, preferring rather to exist in a state of 

 primitive patriarchal life, and using, or rather 

 misusing, vast tracts of rich land, which with 

 irrigation and culture might sustain thousands of 

 souls, for the depasture of their flocks and herds. 

 This grip upon the land is, however, at length 

 relaxing. A succession of bad seasons, added to 

 an effete system of farming ; the temporary ruin of 

 pastures by years of overstocking, and other reasons, 

 have compelled large numbers of the Dutch 

 population to mortgage their ancient and unwieldy 

 estates. These mortgages have not been met ; the 

 estates have been foreclosed upon, realised and 

 thrown into the market, and fresh owners with newer 

 and enlarged ideas have taken, and are taking, the 

 place of the more ignorant and unenlightened of 



