1834. DEC. A Kaffir invasion.-Twelve thousand armed Kaffirs cross the Fish River and invade Cape Colony, ravaging Grahamstown and the surrounding country. Within one week 50 Europeans are killed, 800 farmhouses are entirely or partially destroyed, and 5,700 horses, 112,000 cattle, and 162,000 sheep taken. [See 1835, March.]

1. Slave emancipation.-The Slave Emancipation Act, prohibiting all slavery throughout the British Empire, comes into force. [Number of slaves in Cape Colony, 36,000. Value assessed by Commissioners at three millions sterling. Out of the twenty millions awarded by the British nation as compensation to the slave-owners, the Government allotted one and a quarter millions to Cape Colony. This money was payable in London, but most of it got into the hands of speculators, who bought up the claims at a low price from the farmers, with the result that many of the latter got practically no compensation at all. The slaves were to serve a four years' apprenticeship from Dec. 1, 1834, to Dec. 1, 1838, and were then to be finally set free. When the latter date arrived the emancipated slaves refused to go on working on the farms for wages, although some of the establishments had previously had from 40 to 80 hands, and although the farmers were then in the midst of their wheat harvest. The undoubted ruin of many of the Boers was thus completed.]

11. The beginning of the Treaty States.— Treaty between Cape Colony and Andries Waterboer, chief of the Griquas. Waterboer becomes the

"friend and ally" of the Colony, which recognises his territory as extending along the Orange River from Kheis to Ramah, and agrees, among other things, to allow him an annual subsidy of £100, and to supply him with 200 muskets and a quantity of ammunition. [The Griquas originally sprang from an intermingling of Boers and Basuto women, and were at first known as the "Hottentot Bastards," the name "Griquas" being given to them by the missionary John Campbell, about 1813. They settled to the north of Orange River in 1803, were there joined by other bands of natives, and by 1812 formed a community of 3,000 persons. The Colonial authorities then sent a Government agent to them, and thereupon various sections split off, and went to live elsewhere. Waterboer became the chief of those who remained. For creation of further Treaty States see 1843, Oct. 5 (a).]

1835. In advance of the Great Trek.-(a) A party of 50 trekkers under Carel Trichardt, and another of equal size under Johannes Rensburg, leave Cape Colony. [They joined at the Colonial boundary, and went together to Zoutpansberg, where they halted. Rensburg's party afterwards moved on, and all but two children were massacred by the Matabele. Trichardt's party proceeded to Delagoa Bay, where fever carried off all but 25, who were subsequently taken on by a schooner to Natal.]

- (b) The first Legislative Council for Cape Colony constituted, one half being Government officers, and the other half being nominated by the Governor and approved by the Crown. [See 1853.]

MARCH. Kaffirs driven back.-As the result of the third Kaffir War the marauders are driven beyond the Keiskamma.

- MAY 10. Colonial extensions and home scruples. -As the outcome of the further war with the Kaffirs, Sir Benjamin D'Urban (Governor since 1834) issues a proclamation extending the boundary of the Colony eastward from the Keiskamma to the Kei. [His object was to secure a strategic frontier against the Bantu hordes. Part of the acquired territory was peopled by the friendly tribe of Fingos. In October Sir Benjamin extended the north-eastern boundary to near the present town of Aliwal North, on the Orange River. The new district was called "Queen Adelaide." Lord Glenelg, Secretary for the Colonies, was opposed to any extension of empire, and on Dec. 26 he wrote declaring that "the great evil of the Cape Colony consists in its magnitude." He reversed the policy of Sir Benjamin D'Urban in making the extensions, and the Colonial boundary was moved back from the Kei to Keiskamma, the land which had been taken reverting to the Kaffirs. The home disapproval of Sir Benjamin D'Urban's policy was further shown by his being recalled. For later developments, see 1847, Dec. 17.]

- JUNE 23. The English settlement in Natal.The English settlers in Natal, about 35 in number, hold a meeting in one of the huts for the purpose of deciding on a site for a town. They agree at once that a town shall be built, and, going out, fix

the site for the township of D'Urban.

[They had no

sooner begun to build this town than they sent a peti

tion to the Governor at the Cape, asking that the country, which they had named "Victoria," should be recognised as a British colony. In this petition they said:

"We hold in our possession extensive tracts of excellent land, a considerable portion of which has long been under cultivation. Many of us are occupied in conducting a valuable trade in hides and ivory, the former of which is almost exclusively obtained within the limits which, by mutual consent of surrounding chieftains, have been conceded to us. In consequence of the exterminating wars of Chaka, late King of the Zulus, and other causes, the whole country included between the Umzimkulu and Tugela rivers is now unoccupied by its original possessors, and, with a very few exceptions, is totally uninhabited. Numbers of natives from time to time have entered this settlement for protection, the amount of whom at this present moment cannot be less than 3,000. These all acknowledge us as their chiefs, and look to us for protection, notwithstanding which we are living in the neighbourhood of powerful native states, without the shadow of a law or a recognised authority among us."

The petition was not acceded to, but the facts stated therein are to be borne in mind in view of the attempts afterwards made by the Dutch trekkers to set up an independent Republic in Natal.]

DEC. 26. The Colonial Secretary defends the Kaffirs.-Lord Glenelg writes to the Governor of Cape Colony :

"Through a long series of years the Kaffirs had an ample justification for war; they had to resent, and endeavoured justly, though impotently, to avenge a series of encroachments; they had a perfect right to hazard the experiment, however hopelessly, of extorting by force that redress which they could

not otherwise obtain; and the original justice is on the side of the conquered (the Kaffirs), and not of the victorious party."

[In view of the terrible devastation caused by the Kaffirs in 1834 these assertions by Lord Glenelg gave great discontent to the settlers, who concluded from them that there was no hope of their securing adequate protection from the British Government in the future. See 1836-40.]

1836. Limits of British influence.-(a) Under the Cape of Good Hope Punishment Act, passed this year, the Cape Colonial Courts are authorised to deal with offences committed by his Majesty's subjects in any part of South Africa south of latitude 25°, that is, up to the point where Portuguese influence begins, in Delagoa Bay. [The significance of this Act to-day consists in the evidence it affords as to what were regarded in the thirties as the limits of British influence in South Africa. The Boers who trekked were clearly and repeatedly warned that they would not get beyond these limits merely by going away from Cape Colony, so long as they remained within the territory specified.]

- British treaty with the Matabele.-(6) "Treaty of friendship" between Moselekatze and the Governor of the Cape. [For treaty with Lobengula, Moselekatze's son, see 1888, Feb. 11.]

1836-40. The Great Trek.-The Great Trek began in 1836, and continued about four years, the total number of persons taking part in it being estimated at 10,000. In the early part of 1836 the Boers in Cape Colony began to sell their farms, which were