76 
A SKETCH OF CAPE TOWN, 
Veld-cornetcies, in which the duty of the Veld-cornet, (or Field-cornet,) 
is to put in execution all orders from the landdrost, to whom he is 
more immediately accountable. 
The farms are of great extent, especially those in the distant dis- 
tricts ; they comprise a circular area of three miles in diameter, and 
from their great extent are never enclosed. Corn might be produced 
in great abundance, but the scarcity of labourers, and the want of a 
market within a moderate journey, are the causes of no more being 
grown by the farmers, who live beyond a certain distance from the 
villages, than is found sufficient for the annual consumption of their 
own families.* 
The only mode of travelling is either on horseback, or in wag- 
gons drawn by horses or oxen. A representation of the ordinary 
waggon of the country, with the usual team of oxen and mode 
of driving, is given in the vignette at the end of this chapter. Eu- 
ropean carriages are used only in Cape Town and its vicinity, nor 
is there any public conveyance except the Bolderwagen (stage- 
waggon, to Stellenbosch. A regular post conveys letters to each of 
the villages ; Graaffreynet, one of the most distant, receives them 
from Cape Town in seven or fourteen days, according to the state of 
the rivers and roads. As there are no inns, the traveller must de- 
pend on the uncertain accommodation of farm-houses on the road, 
unless he carry his provisions and bedding with him, which is the 
most usual practice. 
The only villages in the colony, (1815,) are those of Stellenbosch, 
founded in 1670 ; Graaffreynet, in 1786 ; Swellendam, in 1745; Tul- 
bagh, in 1804; Uitenhage, in 1804; Paarl ; Simon s Town; Zwartland, 
which contains little more than the church, in 1801 ; George, in 1812 ; 
Caledon, in 1810 ; and Graliamstown, in 1811 ; here enumerated in the 
order of their size. And the only churches, (excepting those in Cape 
Town,) are at Stellenbosch, Swellendam, Paarl, Zwartland, Graaffrey- 
net, Tulbagh, and Caledon, in the order of their date ; that of Caledon 
* A more particular view of the colony, as applicable to the case of new settlers, 
may be seen in a small pamphlet, entitled " Hints on Emigration to the Cape of Good 
Hope." 
