boors,—­the more so as the three brothers had been the leaders of the Hottentots in the former insurrection.  For seven years they could find no complaint to make against them, until at last two of his Hottentots, who had engaged to serve a boor for a certain time, went back to the kraal at the expiration of the term, against the wish of the boor, who would have detained them; the boor went and demanded them back, but Stuurman refused to give them up; upon which, although justice was clearly on the side of the Hottentots, an armed force was dispatched to the kraal.  Stuurman still refused to surrender the men, and the armed men retired, for they knew the courage of the Hottentots, and were afraid to attack them.

“By treachery they gained possession of Stuurman and one of his brothers (the other having been killed hunting the buffalo), and sent them to Cape Town, from whence, against all justice, they were sent as prisoners to Robin Island, where malefactors are confined.  They made their escape, and returned to Caffreland.  Three years afterward, Stuurman, anxious to see his family, returned to the colony without permission.  He was discovered and apprehended, and sent as a convict to New South Wales; for the government was at that time English.

“Such was the fate of the first Hottentot who stood up for the rights of his countrymen, and such was the conduct of the English colonial government; so you will observe, Mr. Wilmot, that although the strides of cruelty and oppression are most rapid, the return to even-handed justice is equally slow.  Eventually the gross injustice to this man was acknowledged, for an order from the home government was procured for his liberation and return; but it was too late,—­Stuurman had died a convict.

“I have mentioned this circumstance, as it will prepare you for a similar act of injustice to the Caffres.  When the colony was in possession of the Dutch there was a space of about thirty thousand square miles between the colonial boundary (that is, the land formerly possessed by the Hottentots) and the Great Fish River.  This extent of thirty thousand square miles belonged to the Caffres, and was the site of continual skirmishing and marauding between the Dutch boors and the Caffres.

“In 1811 it was resolved by the colonial government that the Caffres should be driven from this territory, and confined to the other side of the Great Fish River.  This was an act of injustice and great hardship, and was proceeded in with extreme cruelty, the Caffres being obliged to leave all their crops, and turned out with great and unnecessary slaughter.

“It may be proper, however, to state the causes which led to this Caffre war with the English.  At this time the colonial governor had entered into negotiations with a Caffre chief of the name of Gaika.  He was a chief of a portion of the Caffres, but not the principal chief, and although the English treated with him as such, the Caffres would not acknowledge his authority.  This is a very frequent error committed in our intercourse with savage nations, who are as pertinacious of their rights as the monarchs of Europe.  The error on our part was soon discovered, but the government was too proud to acknowledge it.