“On the western side of the African coast, and above Namaqua Land, whose inhabitants are probably chiefly of the Hottentot race, we have the Damaras, who may be classed as the Western Caffres; with these we have had little or no communication.

“All these tribes speak the Bechuana or Caffre language, with very slight variations; they are all governed by chiefs or kings, and subdivided into numerous bodies; but they are all Caffres.  Of their characters I have only to observe, that as far as we have experienced, the Caffres of the eastern coast, which we have just left, are very superior to the others in courage and in every other good quality.  Now, have I made myself intelligible, Alexander?”

“Most clearly so.”

“I nevertheless wish we were sitting down in some safe place instead of traveling on horseback over this withered tract, and that I had the map before me to make you understand better.”

“I will refer to the map as soon as I can,” replied Alexander; “but I have studied the map a great deal, and therefore do not so much require it.”

All these Caffre tribes live much the same life; their wealth is in cattle; they are partly husbandmen, partly herdsmen, and partly hunters; and their continual conflicts with the wild beasts of the country prepare them for warriors.  The Eastern Caffres, from whom we have lately parted, are the most populous; indeed, now that we have taken from them so much of their country, they have scarcely pasturage for their cattle.  I have said that the Eastern Caffres’ territory extends as far as the latitude of Port Natal, but it formerly extended much further to the northward, as it did to the southward, before we drove them from their territory; indeed as far north as Delagoa Bay; all the country between Port Natal and Delagoa Bay being formerly inhabited by tribes of Caffres.  I believe, Alexander, that Mr. Fairburn gave you a history of the celebrated monarch Chaka, the king of the Zulus?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Well, it was Chaka who overran that country I am now speaking of, and drove out all the tribes who occupied it, as well as a large portion of the Bechuana tribes who inhabited lands more to the northward.  Now the irruptions we have had into the Caffre and Bechuana country bordering upon the colony have been wholly brought about by the devastations committed by Chaka.  Of course I refer to those irruptions which have taken place since our knowledge and possession of the Cape.  I have no doubt that such irruptions have been continued, and that they have occurred once in every century for ages.  They have been brought about by a population increasing beyond the means of subsistence, and have taken place as soon as the overplus have required it.

“The migration of the springboks, which we witnessed yesterday, may be more frequent, but are not more certain than those of the central population of Africa.  The Caffres themselves state that they formerly came from the northward, and won their territory by conquest; and the Hottentots have the same tradition as regards themselves.