1795. Dutch subjects and Dutch rule.-Finding themselves heavily taxed, and being afforded in return no protection from the Kaffirs, the burghers of the frontier districts of Graaff Reinet and Swellendam throw off the yoke of the East India Company, expel the officials, and set up independent governments.

SEPT. 16. The British occupy Capetown.-Capetown occupied by British forces, sent there, with the approval of the Prince of Orange-a refugee in England-to hold it against a possible invasion by the French, under whose domination the Dutch Provinces have passed. [Swellendam submitted to the British, but the burghers of Graaff Reinet did not surrender until a military expedition had been sent against them.]

1799. The missionary movement.-Commencement of the London Missionary Society's labours among the Kaffirs and Hottentots. [See 1807.]

1803. FEB. Dutch Government rule at the Cape.— Under the provisions of the Peace of Amiens Cape Colony comes under the direct rule of the Dutch or Batavian Government, which seeks to rectify the abuses of the Dutch East India Company's servants.

- MAY. Great Britain and Holland at war.-War breaks out between Great Britain and Holland.

1806. JAN. 10. The British take possession.—Capetown surrenders to an English force under General Baird.

1807.-Moravian missionary station established at Groenekloof, 30 miles north of Capetown.

1811. The Black Circuit.-Under Lord Caledon's government it is ordered that two members of the Supreme Court shall annually go on circuit to every district in the colony. Two missionaries at Bethelsdorp champion grievances of the Hottentots, and lodge accusations against members of 70 or 80 leading families on the frontier. Searching inquiry is made, lasting several months; over 1,000 witnesses examined. Some convictions are secured, for minor offences, but in no instance are the most serious accusations substantiated. The proceedings lead to much bitterness between Dutch and English, and especially between colonists and missionaries. [See 1818.]

1811-12. The Kaffir wars begin.-First war with the Kaffirs, who enter in force the neutral ground between the Fish and the Sunday Rivers. [They were driven back, and a line of military posts was established along the eastern frontier. The headquarters, Grahamstown, became a military station in 1819, and developed into an important town after the settlement of Albany. See 1820-1.]

1812. Beginning of the Zulu power. - Chaka establishes the Zulu power. [The "Attila" or the "Napoleon" of South Africa, as Chaka came to be known, was born in 1783, and was the son of a Zulu chief living on the banks of the River Umvolosi. The Zulus were then quite a small tribe, and subject to the Abatewa. When a youth, Chaka fled from the jealousy

of his father, and took refuge with the Abatewa chief, Dingiswayo, who, having seen in Cape Colony the system of European military organisation, set about forming an army of his own on the same model. In due course Chaka became successively chief of the Zulus and chief of the Abatewa, and he then conceived plans of widespread conquest with the help of a highly trained army of 40,000 or 50,000 men, working under a system of absolutely perfect organisation, and with an obedience which knew no law but the will of a cruel and despotic chief, who awarded the punishment of death for the slightest offence. One characteristic of this organisation was that the soldiers were not allowed to marry without permission, and this was given only in return for long and meritorious services. By means of this military machine Chaka exterminated practically every tribe between Delagoa Bay and the Umzimvubu (St. John's) River. The number of his victims has been put at one million. See 1828.]

- The slavery question.-It is enacted in Cape Colony that Hottentot children, on reaching the age of eight, shall be apprenticed under regulations which make them slaves in all but the name. [See 1828, July.]

1814. AUG. 13. Britain pays six millions.-The great wars in Europe having ended, a Convention is signed under which Great Britain pays £6,000,000 for the Dutch possessions at the Cape, and also for the territories now forming British Guiana, already acquired by them by conquest. Dutch ships are to have permission "to resort freely to the Cape of Good Hope

for the purposes of refreshment and repairs, without being required to pay other charges than such as British subjects are required to pay." [Population of Cape Colony at this date: 26,700 Europeans, 17,650 free Hottentots, and 29,000 slaves.]

1816. Robert Moffat.-Robert Moffat goes to the Cape for the London Missionary Society. The Wesleyans also begin their missionary labours in South Africa. [In 1821 Mr. Moffat went to live with the Batlapin, at the mission station of Kuruman, founded by the London Missionary station in 1817.]

MARCH 6. The story of Slachter's Nek.Execution of the Slachter's Nek rebels. [Frederick Bezuidenhout, a farmer living in the Baviaan's River district, had refused to obey a District Court summons, issued on the complaint of one of his Hottentots, whose term of service had expired, but whom he would not allow to leave or remove his effects. He also threatened to shoot the messenger of the Court. Summoned next to the Higher Court at Graaff Reinet he again refused to appear, and the judge sentenced him for contempt. The under-sheriff went to arrest him, and, the district where the man lived being a notoriously lawless one, the official took a military escort with him. Bezuidenhout then retired with two others to a cave which he had stocked with food and ammunition, and, as the undersheriff's party approached, the three fired on them. One of the party fired in return, and killed Bezuidenhout on the spot. When the news became known 50 or 60 Boers rose in arms to avenge his death, and they

endeavoured to incite the Kaffirs to join them, promising them land if they would help to drive the British from the country. Efforts were made to pacify them, but they worked up a regular rebellion against the British. Eventually a troop of dragoons was sent against them, and 39 surrendered. The leaders escaped for a time, but were afterwards found by a detachment of the Cape Corps trying to get away from the Colony. They resisted arrest, and fired on the troops from behind their waggons, killing one man and wounding another. Shots were fired in return; but it was not until Jan Bezuidenhout, brother of Frederick, had been killed, and another Boer, named Faber, and his wife had been wounded, that the remainder surrendered. The prisoners were tried by a Special Commission of the High Court, and the five leaders were sentenced to death. They were publicly hanged at Slachter's Nekthe very spot where they had met and sworn to stand by each other until they had expelled the "tyrants." Their fate would, in any circumstances, have produced a great impression; but this impression was the more profound because of the horrible conditions under which the execution was carried out. The five men were to be hanged simultaneously, and they were, therefore, all swung off together. But the scaffold broke down under their united weight, and the five fell to the ground with the ropes round their necks, but only partially strangled. When they recovered their senses they crawled up to the officer in charge, and, amid the cries and sobs of their friends, prayed for mercy. But the officer thought it his duty to still