The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1822-12-24 00:00:00

Extract of a letter from the new British Settlement
in Southern Africa, dated Bathurst, September 15,1
1822 :
After so repeatedly giving you pleasing accounts of
our prosperity and good luck in our undertakings in
this country, I am grieved to tell you we feel our-
selves so ill treated by the Landrost, &c. that we
have written to the Government at Cape Town to be
allowed to leave the Colony, as it is impossible to
live under the present system of Government. They
make a trade of robbing the settlers of every dollar
they can get. If a man has but one cow, or the va-
lue of one, and his neighbour envies him, and can get
hold ofany little trifle against him, he must appear at
this unjust Court, which may be thirty or more miles
from his home, by the time appointed by the Great
• ` Landrost of this district, some time ago •• •
—This going on will not make the Colony flourish,
wilco they have been obliged to be fed by Government
for the last two years, or must have starved : we
have no flour nor rice but through the hands of Go•
remittent, who sell at a low price, and give a certain
• of rice to every family ; how then c.au it be
expecd that poor settlers cast give a rig dollar for'
every summon his ill-natured. neighbour may think
proper to plague him with ?
We have a most beautiful garden ; the trees we
have now growing from the seeds planted when we
first came, at this time• are said to be worth more
than 500 dollars ; we have near .50 orange and lemon
trees on each side a little rivulet of water, many al-
mond trees, very beautiful peach and fig trees, which
will all, or most of them, produce fruit this year ; in
fact, we have a most desirable farm and every thing
we could wish for, if we had the British laws eats-
' blished, and not the Dutch to plunder and distress
the poor, who would strive to get an honest living.
The Caffres have for some time been very trouble-
some in some parts, and about a fortnight since a
most melancholy event took place at a Mr. Mahony's,
between this and Graham's Town. His waggon, with
four of his men, were in the wood getting firewood,
&c. The Caffres came upon them suddenly, atacked
the oldest men, called Freemantle, and his two sons,
killed him and the youngest son, while the other, with
an assigay in his thigh, ran with the other man for
assistance. They, however, arrived too late, and
were only in time to witness the last moments of both
father and son. The former had sew assigays in his
body ; they had turned the waggon over, and took
the cattle from it, and had cut the old man's coat off,
on the side where the buttons were. All this happened
a short distance from the house. Mr. Mahony and
my son were in the wood at the same time ; he had
called there on his way from Graham's Town, and had
taken a walk with Mr. M. to look at two of his cattle.
IMr. M.abony has lost upwards of a-hundred head of
cattle stolen by the Caffres in the last two years.
If we leave, in all probability it will be for Cape
Town, not for England ; we like our ➢resent abode so
well that we would not go from it, if Justice were done
us, but we are so much disgusted with the present
mode of treating us poor settlers, that they almost. all
declare that they will not remain under such a system.
Every one here is convinced, if a proper statement of
grievances were made known to the Government at
home, we should have a proper investigation, and be
under English laws—then I would not change our si-
tuation in Africa for any one in Europe. We all pray
for the return of Sir Rufane Shawe Donkio ; Lord
Charles Somerset is not the man to make the colony
prosper. Sir Rufane would do more good in one year
than Lord Charles in ten. Since writing this letter,
a Mr. Dunn, near neighbour to us, was going with his
Hottentot to buy oxen, &c. and in the road was beset
by nine Caffres. The country will soon be overrun
again by this blood-thirsty race, if there are not better
means tak-n to prevent it.

Last week two more of our cows were eaten by
wild dogs ; but we are not afraid of any thing but an
ignorant, overbearing Landrost : if it should please
the Government to remove him, we shall all do well
in a short time. Our greatest hardship has been the
want of flour ; but it has pleased the Almighty to
supply us with plenty of every thing else. Why, then,
should we complain ?
Since I began this letter, intelligence has reached
us that the Court has fined Mr. B----. 100 riz dol-
lars, and the expense, which will be near as much
again. Mrs. R-- wishes us to go to Cape Town ;
but we are very loath to leave this delightful spot, the
most healthy one in the world, I do believe.