492 Foreign Notices : — Africa. 



of these streams, and the country is, consequently, but little benefited by 

 them : indeed, the rivers themselves, in most cases, may be considered pe- 

 riodical, and extremely limited in value ; therefore, of all real drawbacks to 

 the prosperity of the interior, the scarcity of water is none of the least. 

 Still, however, when population shall become more dense, water will be 

 found and brought from the bowels of the earth, in greater quantities than 

 many persons anticipate at present. This has been already done in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Town ; and encourages the industry of man, by 

 showing the power he may exert in creating an earthly paradise on what 

 has hitherto been deemed barren waste. 



Another great obstacle to agricultural prosperity in this colony is the 

 dearth of manual labour ; not so much from a want in number of what 

 ought to be labouring hands, as from the general habits of those persons 

 who ought to form an industrious body, I mean the aboriginal and co- 

 loured inhabitants ; and a prevailing indolence, not natural but acquired, 

 in the white part of the inhabitants, who, I believe, where a coloured race 

 and slaverj'^ unfortunately exist, from a mistaken and ignorant pride, con- 

 sider themselves above manual occupations. As population increases, this 

 evil diminishes, and will eventually disappear. But, while speaking of the 

 indolence of the white inhabitants, you must not suppose that I mean the 

 whole. Such an assertion would be unjust: many of the farmers of the in- 

 terior gain but a scanty subsistence by the sweat of their brow, and exhibit 

 a spirit of active industry creditable to themselves, or to any persons inha- 

 biting such a wild and arid country; and evince much latent industry, which 

 it requires only a steady and remunerating market to encourage and im- 

 prove. 



Regarding slavery here, it exists in its mildest form ; and, were it not for 

 the difficulty attending the emancipation of slaves by their own individual 

 industry, it might be considered to exist only in name, or, at least, would 

 do so in a few years. It appears to have been necessary in a new colony 

 to assist in bringing the land into cultivation, and thriving luxury called for 

 more servants in the town ; but it is much to be regretted that a slave was 

 ever known in this colony, which requires a free and persevering exertion 

 of labour, and honest, and industrious, and sober habits. These qualifica- 

 tions rarely meet in the slave, who, having no personal interest beyond the 

 avoiding of punishment, cares but little for rewards : he knows he must be 

 clothed and fed; and, while viewing the wandering Hottentots, says to 

 himself, " Slavery is but a name," and exultingly compares their meagre and 

 naked persons with his own sleek, well-fed, and comfortably clothed car- 

 cass. 



The Hottentots, have, in a great measure, become a pest to the humane, 

 and appear to lose much of their better character at the London missionary 

 stations. Those of the Moravian missions, on the contrary, exhibit marks 

 of superior and industrious habits, and of sincere conversion to an unas- 

 suming Christianity, especially among those born and brought up at the 

 Mora\'ian stations, where moral conduct, industrious habits, and a sincere 

 confession, as far as man is enabled to judge, alone assm'es them an asylum, 

 an introduction to rank among men, and enjoyment of a Christian educa- 

 tion. This is a subject I have hitherto abstained from entering into. I 

 earnestly wish missionary labours every laudable success : but I see much 

 to condemn in a system strictly Jesuitical in many points, and which too 

 frequently breaks forth in fanatical persecution ; to call it an emulous en- 

 thusiasm is too gentle a term. This matter has lately been brought before 

 the Cape public in a newspaper, the Zuid Afrikaan, wherein the language 

 made use of is not to be admired, and might have been avoided ; but the 

 exposures now making, it is hoped, will have their due effect, and insure to 

 a well meaning body at home a more correct conduct in their ministers 



