240 MR. HOLDEN'S OPINION. 



would be after a severe lesson. The Kaffir, when he really is 

 a savage, is a most ferocious one ; and although the distance 

 that separates England from the Cape is so great, that 

 events taking place there are scarcely discernible; still, 

 they would cause a great stir did they happen nearer. 

 Twelve hundred men, the number slain by these savages 

 in the last war, would look a large body in Hyde Park. 

 The same policy that punishes and subdues the aroused 

 and vindictive Kaffir, ought to encourage and sympathize 

 with him when he is quietly and peaceably disposed. 



Since penning the preceding pages, I have read a work 

 on Natal and the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony, 

 by the Rev. William Holden, who was living at D'Urban 

 during my pilgrimage in the same neighbourhood. As he 

 was an excellent Kaffir linguist, and was always spoken of 

 by Kaffirs and white men with respect and affection, it is 

 gratifying to find that his fifteen years of experience bring 

 him to the same conclusions, with regard to the treatment 

 of the Kaffirs, at which I may be considered to have jumped 

 hastily after only three years' investigation. I will quote 

 from page 215 of his work : 



" But let not those who are invested with a little brief 

 authority use it in playing all sorts of fantastic tricks, or 

 something worse. A Kaffir has a sharp sense of justice, 

 and whilst he will respect and reverence the officer who 

 will give him just punishment for his misdeeds, he will 

 abhor the man who does him wanton wrong, and may be 

 tempted to settle accounts in his own way. 



" The Kaffirs must be treated like children. If a man 

 has a large family, and leaves them without restraint or 



