without letting them burst forth so violently. Hence to
prevent further coolness between them and loss to their
employers, we had great trouble to pacify tbem, as will
be seen from the annexures, should you care to look into
them."
According to a despatch of the 23rd of October, 1691,
written to Batavia, she returned to the Cape on the
7th of that month, and brought with them a black, a
native of Mascarenhas. She had left that island on the
2nd of September, after having nearly circumnavigated
it, keeping as near the shore as possible ; but no one dared
to laud, as the natives were, with their wives and children,
continually following them. She had also called at
St. Augustine Bay in Madagascar for rice and other
supplies, and likewise a cargo of slaves ; but hearing that,
two days before her arrival, the pirates had been there,
and were still in the neighbourhood, one carrying one
hundred and the other sixty men, she left two days after
for the Cape, having accomplished virtually nothing.
To the directors the Council wrote that M. Yalleau
had stated, that after his departure from the Cape he had
first called at Diego Kodrigues, and there left seven of
the twenty men he had on board, providing them abun-
dantly with all necessaries, and that he liad done so as
proof of his having taken possessidn of that island. That
after that he had called at Mauritius and thence steered
for Mascarenhas, which he had sailed almost quite round ;
that a native had swum from shore through the surf and
come on board, and been detained by the captain, who
had on the other hand ordered one of his own sailors to
swim to shore, with orders to return, after having care-
fully observed everything ; tlutt the sailor, however, had
not returned, and that the probalnlity was that lie had
remained voluntarily, or been kept there against bis will,
128 Rambles through the Archives of
after he had thoroughly explored the island and laid
down everything in a ctiart ; * and that in consequence
of his detention he had concluded that his plot had been
discovered. He had therefore at once made sail for
Madagascar.
The native having been examined, told the following
story, written down by order of Governor Van der Stel: —
" My name is Athanas Garel, a native KafBr of the Island
Mascarenhas. T am now on board the little frigate
L' Hirondelle, belonging to the Marquis du Quesne. I am
twenty-five years old, and was born and baptized on the
island mentioned, where I left alive on the 2nd of
September last, my wife, son and daughter, my father
and my mother, having been detained by Captain Valleau
of the Hirondelle, in order to make one voyage in her to
Holland.
" On the said island, six servants of the French King
are stationed, viz., M. Vaublon, the Governor, and M. Tier-
ling, first Commissioner. The four others are book-keej^ers
and overseers of the stores.
" The first Commissioner had, five months before, and
assisted by the natives, imprisoned the Governor and put
him in irons, pretending that he had allowed them to
perish from hunger and anxiety.
" There were only aboiit thirty-five or thirty-six fight-
ing men, white and black, on the island, also thirty
women, ten of whom were white.
" Among the men were six or seven Dutchmen, taken
some years ago by an English pirate at Madagascar, and
landed on Mascarenhas with a little money. Thej'^ had
* One of hundreds of proofs to sliow that a licavy percinlage of the
sailors and soldiers in the Company's service were men of education
and learning, but without means or influence, and hence obliged to
rise from the lowest rung of the ladder. See Appendix C.
the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 129
changed their faith, had married, built houses for them-
selves, and were earning their living by agriculture.
" Two Capncins administered religion there. The
church stands outside of the Fort, and the distance of a
pistol-shot away from it.
" The Fort is named St. Denis, and is situated on the
north-eastern portion of the island and on the beach. It
consists of hurriedly-collected stones, thrown one upon
the other, and is enclosed with palisades. The house of
the Governor and the stores, however, are built of bricl%'
and lime. They have eight guns, six- and eight-pounders,
of iron, which they fished up from the shijD St. John about
a year ago, which vessel had been cast on shore there in
a hurricane. She had conveyed thither the Governor
Vaublon. Six of her crew were drowned, and the rest ha 1
returned a month later to Franco in the ship Le Jen.
" The island is about fifty Dutch miles in circumference,
very fruitful, and has a healthy climate. It is watered
by many rivers and rivulets. There are also many
standing pools, in which eels of twenty-three and twenty-
four feet long are caught. They are often as much as
five feet thick, but on account of their too great fatness
inedible. Those about the thickness of a man's aim are,
however, nice and of a good flavour.
" Eice grows luxuriantly on the island. They plant
their wheat in the wild, uncultivated ground, withoxit
ploughing it beforehand. Fine and large crops are gene-
rally gathered, and from these tliey make their daily
bread.
" The people likewise plant sugar-cane, tobacco, vinos,
and cocoa-nuts. Everytliing grows luxuriantly there.
On the beach " Amber de Nord " is found.
" Oxen, cows, goats, and pigs are in abundance there.
K
130 Bamhles through the Archives of
From the residue of their milk they make good cheese.
They have, likewise, beautiful and strong horses, both
tame and wild ; also wild grapes and numbers of turkeys,
fowls, ducks, geese, parrots, and other Indian birds.
" The island contains large forests of various kinds of
beautiful ebony-trees, which are so near each other that
one is continually^ in the shade underneath them. No
sun shines through them. No underwood, thistles, or
thorns are there to cause the least hindrance to the pedes-
trian. The ground is green, smooth, and nice.
" The seashore is rich in turtle, and the sea in all kinds
of fish."
\Yhat became of the narrator, or whether any of the
remarkable eels mentioned by him were ever afterwards
seen by the eye of a European, or caught with a jDiscato-
rial rod or otherwise, we are not told. I only mention
the fact to those inclined to try their hand at a good bag.
The fun will be all the more enjoyable as it entails a
pleasant voyage to Mascarenhas, or JWIde d'Eden.
In their despatch of the 10th of December, 1692, the
directors mention that the HirondeUe, as thej^ had heard,
had been captured by the French on her way to Holland.
Nor have I succeeded in finding any further mention
made of her, or of those who sent hei\ although a good
deal is said of some of the men whom she had left on the
Island Diego Eodrigo. On the 22nd of February, 1695,
the High Government at Batavia instructed the Cape
Council to desjiatch a small vessel to Mauritius to take in
the supplies left there for the CajDe, and also four men
belonging to the Marquis du Quesne, who were to be sent
to Europe. How they arrived at that island is described
in a des])atch from Mauritius to the Cape, dated the 30tli
of September, 1695, and as follows : —
" Some Frenchmen belonging to the Hirondelle — the
little frigate of Mons. the Marquis du Quesne — who were
left behind on the Island Diego Eodrigo, arrived here in
the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 131
1693 with a boat made by tliemselves. At their request
we allowed them to remain here until the arrival of the
first vessel, providing them likewise with a house and
food near the Lodge, in order to prevent them from
wandering about and becoming acquainted with the
island. They had already attempted to do this, and
therefore we forbade them from going out of sight of
the Lodge without permission. These traitors, however,
could not bear their easy days ; but with Jan Fameurs, a
soldier of the Company, determined to steal our boat, and
with it proceed to Mascarenhas and the French settled
there. But Fameurs having betrayed them to the Com-
mander, they were at once arrested. Two confessed, and
added that they had intended to bind the sailors on board
the vessel to a tree ; but two would not, saying that they
knew nothing of the conspiracy. Not having the least
doubt of their guilt, we had those who confessed placed
in irons, and their comrades on an islet distant about an
hour from the Fort, on which they have a house and their
daily food. There we intend that they shall remain until
we can send them over to you."
Further particulars are given in a letter from Mauritius
to Batavia, a copy of which arrived at the Cape in 1(396,
the despatch from Batavia already quoted being a reply
to it. After mentioning what could be done at Mauritius,
if the Commander ouly had the power and the means, it
continues as follows : —
" The prisoner Jan Fameurs will be sent over to you as
soon as his time has expired. The charges arc annexed,
and likewise two interrogatories replied to by the two
Frenchmen, Jean Tettait and Jacques la Case, with five
inventories of the personal effects of the latter. Every-
thing was seized in payment of expenses, and to prevent
K 2
132 Ramhles through the Archives of
them from doing furtlier mischief, as they had a lot of
ironwork, smith's tools, files, &c., with which the two who
were in irons might have been liberated. All these tilings
(excepting what could not be burnt) have, however,
perished in the flames Avhich destroyed the Lodge. The
cash owned by J. Tettait was paid into the Treasury, as
we had run out of all money. It is to be refunded to him
either at the Cape or Batavia. Whatever else has escaped
the fire we have transmitted to you. The two who had
been ironed, after a time broke their chains, and escaped
into the forests. Jacques la Case was captured, but Jean
Tettait is still at large. The names of the others sent over
by the Swaag are Paul Bennelle, Jean do la Haye, and Le
Guage (? Leguat). Eobert Ansljm, from Picardy, also leaves
in the same vessel. He came over with them from Diego
Kodrigo as a servant or boy, and we enlisted him here as
a soldier at 8 f. per month. He gave satisfaction, and will
l)e able to tell you how tyrannically and inhumanly they
treated him. On his arrival here, he begged us on his
knees to deliver him from their tyranny, and take him
into our service.
" When the Standvastujlieid was lying here, Tettait and
La Case presented a petition to her officers, very much
blaming the Commander of the island. The latter, there-
fore, reqTiested the said officers to deliver the petition to
you ; for it contained, amongst other matters, the statement
that they had been deprived of tlieir vessel in which they
had arrived here, and which had been burnt by the Com-
mander. But the truth is that they gave it away them-
selves to one of their comrades, and personally helped to
burn it, no Company's servant having had a hand in that
proceeding. This will be seen from two sworn declara-
tions of their mates, who during tiie time of their stay
iJie Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 133
always "behaved as honest people. For that reason they
were allowed to leave in the Standvasiigheid.
"The time-expired servants of the Company, who leave
in this vessel — the Swaag — will, if you wish it, give you
full information regarding the life and conduct of these
Frenchmen during their stay here.
" As Jean Tettait, who is still at large, did not hesitate
to say that Commander Deodati had compelled him by
torture to confess that he intended to seize the sloop, and
for that act of cruelty he should be punished as his pre-
decessor. Commander Lamotius, had been : and as this
statement is utterly false, we enclose a letter written by
the said Tettait to Commander Deodati regarding the sum
of 300 f. and a piece of ambergris which he professed t(t
have entrusted to the keeping of the junior surgeon, Hugo
van Heel, who was then stationed here. The latter, how-
ever, denied that he had ever received anything of the
sort, and as Tettait could not prove his plaint by evidence,
whilst Van Heel offered to purify himself by oath, we
could take no further steps.
" The same letter likewise contains his voluntary con-
fession that he intended to seize the sloop, so that it is
self-evident that he had not been forced by torture to say
80. It would have been a very wicked thing, if it had
been done. But Van Heel was one of the Commissioners
appointed to examine Tettait, and he will, no doubt, be
willing to give you further infurniation, should he still be,
as we believe, at Batavia.
" It will be also necessary to inform you of what occurred
between the freeman Claas Jansz. van Wieringe and the
Frenchman Jean de la Ilaye shortly after the arrival oi
the latter and his fellow-countrj-meu. One of these, a
former mate of the Hironddle, who was one of the party
134 UamUes through the Archives of
put on shore at Diego Rinlrigo, and who left in IGO-i
with the Standvastigheiil, informed the Secunde Johannes
Maurits, and a few days later the Commander Deodati,
that his mates were a lot of rogues, who were not to be
trusted, at the same time begging that he might be sepa-
rated from them, and allowed to live alone. At first we
thought that he merely spoke in anger, as they were
always quarrelling among themselves ; but seeing how
matters stood, we kept a closer eye on them, and forbade
the freemen to buy anything from them without taking a
receipt. For instance, when the French were leaving the
Zicarte Bivier in their sloop, on their way to the Lodge,
they were detained at the north-west point of the island
by contrary winds, and accordingly decided to carry some
of their goods overland to the outpost known as Noord-
wyh VlaJtte. On the way the freeman Claas passed them,
and Jean de la Haye offered him for sale some silversmith's
tools and gum brought by him from Diego Rodrigo.
Having agreed upon the price, Claas paid the amount,
but forgot to take a receipt. At the Lodge he showed the
articles to the Commander, saying that one piece of gum
had been given him as a present. It looked very scabby
and like a rotten piece of bark. He then went away.
The same day, however, De la Haye came to the Com-
mander, and asked for payment of the amount due on a
piece of ambergris which, as he said, he had unwittingly
sold to Claas, stating at the saiae time how the sale took
place. There having been no witnesses, we took his
evidence in presence of his mates ; but in the meanwhile,
Claas, requiring the gum, melted a portion, and found that
it contained a piece of ambergris. He at once went to De
la Haye, and offered him Kds. 50, if he would not tell the
Commander anything about it, and also to pay for the bits
the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 135
which had been mixed np with the rest of the gum. The
Commander, however, heard of it, and seized the whole
for the Compan3^ The fire, however, consumed every-
thing. The reason why he made the seizure was because,
when tlie French arrived here, we carefully qTiestioned
them about the condition of the island Diego Rodrigo, and
whetlier it produced any ambergris. They had replied
that it did not, and we concluded from that, that they had
picked it up on the beach here, having wandered about
eight or ten days before they found any human beings,
and that our own safety required it under any circum-
stances that they should be prevented from wandering
along the shore or in the forest, in order not to spy out
everything, as they had always been endeavouring to do.
Moreover, it will bo found from the petition of De la Haye
to the officers of the Standvasfiijlieid that he made a present
of the ambergris to Claas van Wieringe."
This is the last narrative connected with the exploring
party sent out by the Marquis dn Quesne and his brother.
Though seemingly of no great interest, I have added it,
not only to make the collection as complete as possible by
placing before the readers in a few consecutive pages what
lies scattered through the Archives in many volumes, but
also to show, that there were some undesirable characters
among those professing to be refugees ; that this may have
been one of the reasons wh}'' the plans of the Man^uis
du Quesne and his brother collapsed (see Appendix D.);
that tlie Amsterdam Chamber was fully justified in not
complying with the wish of the Rev. i'ierre Simond to
take down indiscriminately the names of all applicants
for a passage, without knowing something definite about
their cliaracter and ability; that, this rule not having
always been rigidly adliered to, a percentage of the fugi-
tives was found not to be of the class recpiired here, and
which class caused much trouble to the Van der Stels,
both to father and son ; anil that, as agriculture was the
I'AG llamhlcs throiujh t}ie Archives of
chief object to he attended to ])y them here, in order to
make the yoiinj^ Colony not only self-supportin<^-, hut also
an ex])orter of all kinds of grain, so that naturally viti-
culture, although hrought to Buch jierfection hy the father
at CoHstntiiia, and equally so hy the son at Verr/eleyen —
although the latter had hut little time left him to show
what he could do witli the Cape grape — was considered
of merely secondary imiwrtance ; it is not surprising that
Willem van der Stel wrote to the directors on the 2nd of
July, 1699 :—
" We shall set upon their legs the French Refugees who
have arrived in the Westhoven, in order to settle here as
agriculturists. But as we have already so many of that
sort, and some are conducting themselves so hadly, and
besides do not possess much knowledge of agriculture, and
jtay very little attention to it, so that already much jioverty
has been caused among them, and the poor-fund will in
ihc end have to provide for some of them; and the more
so, as there are among them old and decrepit people who
will be able to do little or nothing here, we would rather
see, if you pleased, that for the future we are no longer
burdened with such a class of fugitives, but that some
Zealand farmers may be sent, who are of an industrious
nature and well versed in agricultural pursuits, — should
any of them feel inclined to come over to further agricul-
ture here. Such people would be much more suitable,
serviceable, and useful."
And if we refer to Arnaud, we find the same class attach-
ing themselves to the second body of Vaudois who, having
heard of Arnaud's success, decided to follow his example : —
" On landing at Savoy, the force was also divided into
nineteen companies, of which two only were composed of
Yaudois, three were Swiss, and the remainder French
the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 137
Eofugees. . . . Dissensions soon arose l^etwecn the French
and Swiss, and at the end of a week, from the time of
disembarkation, general confusion was followed by aban-
donment of the enterprise."
" Their leader, Bourgeois, was charged with rebellion,
and being found guilty, was beheaded on the gates of
Nion."
Arnaud, while mentioning it, deprecates the whole affair,
as "emanating from irritated vanity on the part of the chief,
and a lust for plunder on the part of his followers, instead
of the patriotic and religious feeling which had actuated
the body which he had himself so successfully commanded."
138 Rambles through the Archives of
CHAPTER XVII.
I TRUST that tlie reader has hitherto willingly followed
me through the labyrinth of manuscripts, through which
I invited him to accompany me, and that I have, to some
extent, succeeded in making him see, as he went along,
people who have long passed away, brought back to life
again.
He has with me rambled far from the spot from which
we started, and the path which we originally intended to
follow — although we have never lost sight of either ; but
as we proceed we shall find that we have gained much,
and lost nothing by having done so, and that our zigzag
course has served to make us thoroughly informed of
matters whose knowledge is simplj^ indispensable if we
wish to grasp the period of which Willem van der Stel is
the central figure, and which was succeeded by an almost
unbroken series of misery, until, in 1795, the arrival of a
British squadron in False Bay for ever put an end to an
iniquitous mercantile system of oppression and cruelty,
and enabled the Colony gradually but surely to advance
on the lines laid down for it, when still in its infancy, by
its able administrator, Simon van der Stel.*
* I cannot refrain from inserting here the following remarks of
Commissioner-General de Mist, taken from his exhaustive report on
Cape affairs, when he liad been deputed to advise on the course to be
pursued after the Colony had been restored to the Dutch by virtue of
one of the Articles of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. He says: "A
commercial government (pardon the expression) whose primary object
is to make money and contribute the most to the general profits of a
trading company whose interests it serves (that the annual dividends,
and, consequently, the prices of the shares may rise as high as possible) ;
a government which views the prosperity or adversity of the colonists
only with a distant and indifferent eye ; a government that takes only
so much interest in tlie colonists, as would result from the calculation
that they can bring profits to the company, in the same way as the
partners in a postal route look upon the prosperity of an innkeeper, in
the Colony of tlie Cape of Good Hope. 139
And to everyone who loves South xVfrica as his native
land, or adopted home, it must especially in these days of
great depression and dependence on the resources of other
countries, be a source of comlbrt and of pride to remember
that one man at least, no matter how long ago, did set
himself to work to make the Colony for its supplies totally
independent of the whole world, and that he succeeded.*
That bv his persistent efforts he converted the barren hills
and dales of this Peninsula and of the Paarl and Stellen-
bosch into fruitful cornfields and vineyards ; that every-
where he planted forests and avenues of oaks, which at the
present day still testify to his indefatigable efforts and
complete success. No one, tli ere fore, when casting his eyes
on all these things, the fruits of his genius, and the work
of his hands so abundantly blessed by a gracious Provi-
wliose stables the postillions refresh themselves and their horses on the
â– way, wliilst resting awhile ; such a government, we say, may in the
beginning be considered as adequate when the number of colonists is
small ; when they were in reality considered— and it was not necessary
tlieu to consider them otherwise — as the ' Hosts of the Indian Ocean
Tavei!N,' whom it was necessary to patronise for personal conveni-
ence; when it was not thought tnut this fruitful promontory might in
course of time, such as it was, and iiulepiudcnt of all connections with
the East India Comjiany, become a rich portion and possession of the
State ; when perhaps it would have been ridiculed, if the building-of
an imjjortant town on tliat promontorj' had been prophesied, popu-
lated by wealthy citizens and surrounded by extensive villages and
farms yielding abundance of corn, wine, cattle, sheep, &c. Ijut now
tliat this condition of afiairs has m the course of 150 years been
altogether changed ; now that we have before us a well-established
society or societies of more tlian 20,000 souls, exclusive of the serving
classes or natives, the principles of such a government can no longer
be applicable. The Inn, formerly of slight estimation, bos been con-
verted into an important town, and ((jually important villages. The
citizens have likewi.'-e become citizens of the Batavian Kepublic, and
have the right of demanding a government for tliemselves which does
not always rule them onhj far tin' jtrajif of a third om-, but fspL-cially,
and in the first place, according to lixed written and fair laws, and ou
reasonable conditions to be sanctioned by the >50vereiga Power, so
that their own prosperity may be promoted, and mutual happiness
realised."
* In a placcaat issued on the 16th of .Tune, 1081, he notified that no
more rice would be imported, and that, therefore, ho warned every
agriculturist to sow as much grain as possible.
140 Bamhles througli tJte AreJiives of
dence, can refrain from paying a grateful triljiite to his
memory, for they surround him on all sides and urge him
to follow a noble example.