Star.
London, England, 1824-01-13 00:00:00

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- [PRics

;VEN - PSAI

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little girlz I was startleil by -Ai cry.' of Ad gogso. !..
ran to the windoW, and saWabotsa 3(1 of those fetneidtts..
animals; before I could drive them off, they kisfled 20.*
of my flock, which consisted of 27 in
" JAN. 28, 1823.—• We arc ill here struggling hi die
same way in which you left us, Ot rather worse ' • our
prospects being stili more gloomy, as the cropshate
• again very lenerally failed in this part of the cbuntry.
•We have also this season been • trpublcd with a Ow •
enemy—the caterpillars: and locusts have been so nil-
memos that our gardens are mull,. destroyed. I. took •
the greatest. care of Mine, and the prosp4t of its pto-
ducing
.sorrietliin•• cheered- us a little ; but this unex-
pected visitation has throtvna cotriplete damn on our
ere, tion.s. The *season has been iso dry, that many
fainters in the Graaff-Itayret district- have been obliged
to leave their places for want of wan. Several whom '
know. here are foseed to send three miles for whit
lwater they use for doole,vc purpres. Bread is now
• •• -
quite out of the question ; tire scanty allowance of half
a pound of rice is all we get: We feel mach the want
bf vegetables,-sometimes being under the necessitT
tif-
living for several days on meat alone. The Caffrey are
very troubleiciiire; they *.lately 'stile twenty:four head - •
„r oxen from, me; but misfortune has so long been my
c o Di pa that we be;.;iri to he reconciled to each other."
TO nest* two extracts are selected froth letters now •
beforet4COmmlttee, and wie.written by a Gentleman •
who formerly *held. *Captain's cornalk.sviorr in his 'Ma- '
iesty's service. They are addressed to I:private friend, .
who had Collected a smaltsubsciptionior him. in Cape
Town:— - .
• ." Fes 17, 1823.--tvrdy frierido s nd'tbe-friends of
1
humanity, I am indelsfed, !toy say,. for tht-existence of
myself and faibily ;- fee:real y;- hut for:their hind inter-
ference, we lonia hare -pei-itlied. If tould.only see.
any kind of bread of My as n grotiving, I• should be
happy. It is DOw-neally three months since we had any.
bread' to eat, and, indeed, verylittTe.ria. It Leonid any
s% ay get a barof meal, it..wottld be a great relief: We
are Vet y baJ y off for breakfast, which new usuallv con-
shts of a bif bf fried cabbage, orpumpirin geweit. If
we once again. get hreal, we will.enjoy it.sWeetly."
Mav23, 1823.—Eyery necessary is.so estrav\lant
in Graham's Town, that it is impossible to Come at
clothing. My sons and myseffate Ntery naked, and the •
weather is excessively cold. If l could. but gecthe-prite
of a pair of new whe'els..for my waggon, -I would put. -•
my ssoi, J— on the 'road, and he would earn a little by .
drawini loads for the shOpkeepers in Graham's Town:. -
The calico will 'be a great relief when it Arrives. A ..
whole shiit will now be a great•luxury. ,
" We:are At present ps badly off as ever.. The four. •
cows that gave us milk, which was a great part of our ,
support, are dry, 'owing to a disease now prevailing..
among the cattle throughout- the coubtry." * • •
The following interesting passages ate extracted from .
the MS. Journal of Mr.l7- (a Gentleman well
known to several Membefi of the Committee), who Ira-
velled.through the Englsh rotations hr March and April
last, and personally witnessed many of Cie fats which
he relates: •

MA uczt 31.-,Visited Scanlan's party. There are •
only three families remaining -here, out of -seven of
which.it otigipally consisted. They were all, but one,
shoemakers, and might have obtained plenty of ern•
ployment among the settlers, were it not that ahete is
nut one in twenty who has now money sufficient to pur-
chase a pair of shoes ; and in fact, the settlers are gene-
rally found without them. These people have Still a
few cattle, but hare lost-many by the Caffres. Indian.
corn arid-purnpkins ate their only produce."
" APRIL I.—Mr. Mandy informed me that many in.
his neighbourhood' ein the greatesi distress, and that
some had killed thefr last cow for food." •

‘‘ Bailie's Party.—Mr. Adams, who is head of one .
division of this party, informed me, that there were oniy
thirtee'n or fourteen fannlie.-now retn.tining on the lo-
cation, out Of this huge settietnent."
" APRIL 3—Visited Smith and Cock's parties. Three

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persons belonging to these two parties had some wheat •
grown this year ; and at one of their houses I ate the first
awd last biead that I-met with in .11banr, made from
wheat grown by any settler. A few of the other settlers
have bought some of this *heat for seed, at two shil-
lings per pound." • • •
• '• It is most distressing to see the husbani and wife;
..
with scarcely anything to cover them, ant their chil-
dren in the sat* 'condition, lying on the grOtind on the
outside of. their miserable huts, roasting a few heads.or
India corn, pirobahly the only food they have. Many, ,
1-hive nothing but pumpkins. One family, of the .natite
of H—, had not tasted butcher's mist?, nor, I beTieeei
bread, for about three.months ; and their.thildren were
rrunning about withoUt Clothes. ..As for sillies or stock-
ings, they are seldom to be seen on either old of young.
i, Hyrnan-apni Fc•rd's party are in a truly miserable
plight, with scarcely anything to eat but a few rep-
tables. I here saw an aged•couple in almost a starving
condition. Oa going into their hut, 1 found the poor
woman boiling a little pumpkin soup, which was mixed
1 with some mill:. She said this was the only food they
had; and thelr wretched swelling was neither wind nor
water-tight.
" Arum 4..—Oti reaching Wilson's patty, we •met
with many persons Who had formerly been in a respect-
able situation of life in England, and had brought.otit
some property with then,. This is the desci.4:tion of
people who have sqfFered the greatest privations and
calamities. I spoke to one or two respectable women,
who gave me a more lively idea of their melancholy
situation, by replying to-time in .a manner that immedia
ately_convinced me that they had bkit w ell' eduCated,•
and brought up in good society ; though they now ap- -
peared to be iialistat ved, anjalmost broken-heafted,witit
then- persons neglected, and in rags. At this place their
gardens had generally tailed, and the Coln altogother..:.
" APRIL 6.—Captain ---• ; and• his fwo- sons, w,ere
witlidut shoes or .stockings; aod actually *about stiff'
ficient clothing or any kind to Cover'their -naked littrhs.
Tha corn :144 tocally,tailed front -Wight, arid ihe!r ga'r- -
den had scarcely produced am thing, -ili•ciatiseqiencb Z>f
drouglit and:catcipiilati:' ' , .* !' •
";gigs. c:tiiiie-t4hO lias•asliop,,at:Patkurst) told tyre,
Lb4.4,l43g,usik aluatAt egfi, tettler wits in thc Agree: c..
' 4 The 11711 d itortdorwl4- ;, ei•Oig Cape, is asn'ti"oolb7 -
it
....J. ,-a. -, • • • •
' 13Enctic,11 a• iai'aiidetelimai 40
...v#,Trc,es of the Hygas.7...
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