The Press. — London, England, 1856-07-26 00:00:00

JULY 26y 1856. yiteraturt, Correspondence of Lieutenant-General the Hon. Sir George Cathcart, K.C.8., relative to his Military Operations in Caffraria. London : Murray. THE correspondence contained in this volume extends over a period of two years. Sir George Cathcart's first despatch from the Cape:—" I arrived in Table Bay, in her " Majesty's ship Hydra, last night," is dated March 31, 1852 ; and his last:—" As I am " about to be relieved in the government and -.command of her Majesty's South African "continental possessions," is dated March 20, 1854. In those two years the Kaffir war was suc cessfully prosecuted anal ended; the civil administration conducted with energy and prudence; and the principles laid down by which the peace and prosperity of the whole colony would be best secured, and the hostile tribes he kept in subjection. He accepted the command offered him with some reluctance : I did not fail (he says) to point out my own inferiority, in respect of the advantage of experience to Sir Harry Sakti, as well as the circumstance of my being junior to General Soineret, whose practical experience and local knowledge must be oraluable, and would probably be lost by my appointment. The orders of " the Duke " vanquished his scruples, and the result proved the sagacity of the great captain's choice. When Sir George arrived at Cape Town, he found the Kaffir war still raging along the whole of the colonial frontier. The two powerful chiefs Macomo and Sandilli, though they had been se verely chastised by Sir Harry Smith, were still far from subdued, and continued to occupy in force their respective fastnesses of the Water kloof and the Amatolas —extensive woody regions intersected by ravines, and lying to the north and north-west of King William's Town. To the north-east, beyond the River Kei, was the territory of the chief Kreli, the recognised head of all the Kaffir tribes, who was not a British subject himself, but had all along aided and abetted the rebel chiefs within the colony. His country hail also been invaded by Sir Harry Smith, and, though he had not complied with the terms dictated by that general, at the time of Sir George's arrival he was not openly interfering. North of the Amatolas, again, lay the rebellious tribe of the Tamboukies, and to the south west the chief Seyolo had established himself between Graham's Town and King William's Town ; so that almost the whole of what is known as British Caffro.ria was at that time in posses sion of the rebels. Their origin and organisa tion are thus described by Sir George : This tract of country, as you are aware, is inhabited by clans of a remarkable race called Kaffir., each clan having a chief, who is assisted in governing by a council, and owning a certain portion of territory within defined limits. These hereditary chiefs are, with but one exception, all descendants from the same patriarchal or royal progenitor, and they are all therefore related ; but, as their traditions do not extend back beyond three generations, and appear to centre in one common origin at that day, there is little doubt they came from some distant country and obtained possession of their present territory by right of conquest, under a chief whose name is supposed to have been Kosa, as they call themselves Amaknsa, the prefix Ama consti tuting the plural ; and the designation Kaffir is an Arabic nickname, signifying infidel, and not in use in their own I.►ngaage. Sir George seems to have discerned at once what had been hitherto the weak point in our contests with these savages. No amount of beating in the field made any durable impres sion on them. When our troops retired, they reoccupied the ground they had been driven from, and merely watched an opportunity to renew their depredations on the colonists. The new Governor saw that permanent military settlements must be effected in the dangerous localities before the enemy could be effectually overawed. To this end, as soon vs he had succeeded, with the aid of Colonels Vvier and Eyre, in expelling the Katfirs from toe Water-kloof and the Amatolas, he corn merwed the construction of military forts in these ,41itstricts. His method is described by himself::— Now, my object being to retain possession of the country gained, what d want is, to have established in the right place where rpreke t ot circumstances require it, a defensible THE PRESS. nucleus adapted for a large or small force, in which ten men, perfectly safe themselves, may command a radius of two or three hundred yards by the fire of musketry, and with a gun six hundred yards, so that within that area a large camp may be covered and protected during the ab sence of the principal part of the force on patrol. Every experienced soldier knows how difficult it is to force regular troops out of a churchyard or similar inclo sure, even when there is no provision for flanking fire ; but there is no reason why the wall of the inclosure should not be so constructed as to afford that advantage. I have ulterior views in the construction of these posts, and in the selection of their sites ; I anticipate they may hereafter become villages, and in the centre of a village constructed of huts all one storey high, and roofed with thatch or slight materials, one tower, two storeys high, or other defensible stone building, placed in the centre and with a fiat roof, will enable a few men effectually to command and protect it. In cases of panic, if the defensible posts be detached and scattered all round the circumference, as is generally the case in this country in old forts, as Fort Beaufort for example, or the more modern construction of Fort Hare, and no central rallying-point exists, the people as well as the garrison know not where to go. Now, if the rallying point be in the centre, and such as I have described as desirable, the detachments and mob will rally to it, and the voice of the commander will have power to direct and detach the requisite forces in the right directions, retaining a reserve, whilst the women and children would be safe within the inclosure, and under the protection of the central tower till the storm had blown over. It is obvious, therefore, that this system is applicable equally to military posts under existing circumstances, and to villages, especially military villages ; and had there been this precaution iu Woburn and other military villages at the opening of this war, with a proper orgaiiisation for watch and ward, the massacre that took place in them would not have occurred. That this measure is warranted by experience, and that there is nothing new in it, is evinced by the ancient church towers, and other towers which remain from the remote period of history in our own country, when a civilised race planted themselves in small numbers in the midst of savages, and ultimately supplanted or subdued them. One principal object of these towers was— To be a demonstration to the warlike, troublesome, and restless tribe of Gaikas that the Amatola country, their stronghold, is not again to be abandoned as soon as marched through, as heretofore; and that no hopes re• main to them of ever being allowed to recover it, and feed their herds in the fertile pastures which its valleys and hill tops afford. Towards the end of November, 1852, peace was restored throughout the colony, and Sir George Cathcart had leisure to mature the plans he had originated to provide for its per manent tranquillity. The "military villages " above mentioned were an important feature in his design, but it was not so easy to determine who should garrison them. British military pensioners were, in Sir George's opinion, owing "to their intemperate and idle habits, " and a natural carelessness and contempt of " danger, unfit to be placed with safety in an " Alpine district." Ordinary settlers " could " not be brought together in compact coinmu " nitres, or rendered amenable to the control " and restraints essential to their own in " terests.' The Fingoes, again, would be un able to maintain themselves against the supe rior race of the Kaffirs ; and Sir George ultimately came to the conclusion that " two " Swiss rifle regiments of 700, or I should say " 1,000 men each," would afford the best means of carrying his design into effect. The whole despatch in which this question is discussed evinces the wide foresight and fertile genius of the writer, and proves him to have possessed a portion of that rarer talent by which empires are consolidated as well as conquered. All the farms in the newly gained territory were also to be let out on a species of feudal tenure, every holder of sa Crown allotment being bound to keep a serviceable gun, and to provide when required one armed and mounted man for every thousand acres he possessed. Indepen dent of the practical utility of such a measure, we see that in these borders farmers would become the germ of a class of landed gentry, devoted to British interests, and destined, perhaps, to lay the foundation of a solid and flourishing South African empire. A third expedient on which Sir George seems to have relied for ultimate defence of the colony was the Cape Mounted Police, composed of colonists themselves, and to be paid out of the colonial revenue. By these various means Sir George calculated on being able very materially to lightea the expenses which would fall upon this country in any future Kaffir insurrection, and at the same time to diminish very considerably the chance of their recurrence. 713 In regard to the Kaffirs themselves, Sir George considered that the only way to in fluence them was through their chiefs : Ample experience has led to the conviction that the only true and sate policy, for the present at least, is to govern the several Kaffir tribes within this province through their respective chiefs, that is, not to attempt to take away the long-established and now existing magis terial power of the chief over his followers, or attempt suddenly to Anglicise his whole system of government, but rather to respect the chief, to hold him responsible as a vassal of the Crown for the good conduct of his people, and allow him for the present to govern his people accord ing to the accustomed Kaffrarian usage. The opposite course has been tried, and proved a failure, as might, in deed, have been expected, it the knowledge of this pecu liar people and their circumstances and prepossessions had been as well known as they now are. These weighty words of a most enlightened and sagacious mind deserve the more atten tion as it has been resolved to act in a directly opposite system in India. The general prin ciple laid down by Sir George deserves a more extended application than he thought of giving to it. He adds in another place : It must be admitted that this remarkable people have a strong sense of the moral obligation of good faith, and if they enter into an engagement at all are seldom found to promise one thing and do another. It is to be greatly lamented that a governor who found himself able to act upon these principles should by any circumstances have been removed from a sphere of such impor tant usefulness. Though Sir George himself does not enlarge upon the gravity of his own proceedings, or the magnitude of the interests committed to his charge, it is impossible to rise from the perusal of this correspondence without a conviction that the value of our South African dependencies is scarcely yet duly appreciated, and that under judicious management they may be made to play a very prominent part in the future history of Great Britain. Sir George himself returned to this country in August, 1854, and his departure elicited the warmest expressions of confidence and affection from the colonists. The close of his life became him well : he died "in his harness," and closed a long career of more than ordinary utility with more than ordinary heroism. In the present volume of despatches military details of course very greatly preponderate, and to those we have given our exclusive attention. There arc, however, some interesting statistics relative to the revenue and expenditure of British Caffraria, which show that no branch of his duties escaped the Governor's minute consideration. Up to 31st Oct., 1853, the in come was 0,819/. 15s. 2d; the expenditure 7,821/. 1 Is. Bd. Sir George's despatches in many points of style resemble those of the late Duke of Wellington ; they are characterised by the same happy union of brevity and perspicuity, and display a similar decision of character. They are sometimes deficient in grammatical correctness, and the collocation of words is occasionally harsh. But they never leave us in doubt as to the writer's meaning, and are always spirited and pertinent. The more we ponder on them the more we grieve for the loss which this country has sustained in the person of their soldier author. Sight-Seeing in Germany and the Tyrol. By Sir John Forbes. London : Smith and Elder. RAPID travelling by rail has brought into the world a whole class of writers who seem also to use steam as their agent in authorship. Mr. Babbage invented a machine for calcu• biting logarithms, and we have heard that an ingenious Chancery barrister hopes to get out a patent for a cylindrical apparatus for the mechanical settlement of equity motions. " Murray's Handbooks" are copyright, but we surmise that some dexterous scribes com pose travels out of them, without paying tax to Albemarle-street. Sir John Forbes, bow ever, is not one of those light-fingered authors. He openly confesses his obligations to " Mur• ray poplin" : In closing this volume, I feel that it would be =jest to the writers of Mr. Murray's Handbooks of North and South Germany, not to acknowledge the great obligations the author is under to them, for pointing out, with such precision, the various sights most worthy to be seen; and