vi 
BEDICATiO!v. 
edj or on feme other part of the foutlienr 
coritinciit, which niay, from its fertility, 
invite a fettlemeiit. I fliall give you my 
fentiments freely on this oecaiion, becaufc 
I do not conceive that any of the European 
nations have a right to interpofe. The 
Dutch^ who formerly poffeffed the Cape of 
Good Hope^ but w^hich, on niy arrival 
there, I found in poffeffion of the EngUfo^ 
encouraged colonization to a certain degree, 
and their people have, within this century,, 
proceeded into the interior, cultivated lands,, 
and formed fettlements 400 miles diftant 
from the Cape. As thefe colonifts advance,, 
they hunt the unfortunate natives as they 
do the lion and the panther^ difpoffefs them 
of their lands by force, rob them of their 
cattle, and, by every poffible means, en- 
deavour to efled a total extirpation of the 
original and unoffendinR' inhabitants. This 
inhuman conduct muft furely meet the exe- 
cration of every man not totally loft to the 
teelings of humanity ; but ftill it may be 
allcdged, that, having once pofTeffion of 
ihefe lands, no matter how obtained, their 
riglit is dlabliflied, and they cannot be dif- 
poffelfed by a foreigner, as fuch a conduft 
k not warranted by the law of nations. I 
fhdll admit (but for the purpofe only of elu- 
cidating the matter in queftion,) that fuc- 
cefsful violence gives a title to the pofleffor^ 
-mA that the eolonifts, ^ as for as thc-y have 
pe^^eLratedj zi^. kwfiiHy^ entitled t-o- thefe- 
