72 THE GRIQUA CHIEF WATERBOER. Chap. V. 



the pasturage gets so scarce, that in order to subsist they are 

 at last obliged to cross the Orange river, and become the pest 

 of the sheep-farmer in a country which contains little of their 

 favourite food. If they light on a field of wheat in their way, 

 an army of locusts could not make a cleaner sweep of the whole 

 They have never been seen returning. Many perish from want, 

 and the rest become scattered over the colony. Notwith- 

 standing their constant destruction by firearms, they will 

 probably continue long to hold their place. The Bakalahari 

 take advantage of the love of the springbuck for an uninter- 

 rupted view and burn off large patches of grass, both to 

 attract the game by the fresh herbage which springs up, and 

 to form bare spots for them to range over. 



On crossing the Orange river we come into the inde- 

 pendent territory inhabited by Griquas and Bechuanas. By 

 Griquas is meant any mixed race sprung from natives and 

 Europeans. These were of Dutch extraction, through asso- 

 ciation with Hottentots and Bushwomen. Half-castes of the 

 first generation consider themselves superior to those of the 

 second, and all possess in some degree the characteristics of 

 both parents. They were governed for many years by an 

 elected chief named Waterboer, who proved a most efficient 

 guard of our north-west boundary. He drove back a for- 

 midable force of marauding Mantatees that threatened to 

 invade the colony, and, except for his firm and brave rule, 

 there is every probability that the north-west would have 

 given the colonists as much trouble as the eastern frontier. 

 Large numbers among the original Griquas had as little 

 scruple about robbing farmers of cattle as the Caffres, but, on 

 his election to the chieftainship, he declared that no marauding 

 should be allowed. Some of his principal men disregarded the 

 injunction and plundered certain villages of Corannas. He 

 seized six of the ringleaders, summoned his council, and tried, 

 condemned, and publicly executed them all. This produced 

 an insurrection, and the insurgents twice attacked his capital, 

 Griqua Town. He defeated both attempts, and during his 

 long reign of thirty years no plundering expedition ever 

 issued from his territory. 



Ten years after he was firmly established in power, he 

 9ntered into a treaty with the Colonial Government; and, 



