Natalia 23/24 (1993/1994) Copyright Natal Society Foundation 2010 , Natalia Journal of the Natal Society No.23 and No. 24 December 1993 and December 1994 Published by Natal Society Library P. O. Box 415, Pietermaritzburg 3200, South Africa SA rSSN 0085-3674 Cover Picture Setting out from occupied France. U-504,the first German submarine to strike off Natal on 31 October 1942.(Herzog: V-boats in Action) TvpeSef by the Vlliversi!1' 0/ Natal PressPrillted I>." The Natal Witlless Printilll: illld Publishinl: Company (Pty) Lld Contents Page EDITORIAL 5 NATAL SOCIETY LECTURE ................... . Brenda Gourley 7 UNPUBLISHED PIECE Piet Rogg's Reminiscences Pat Merrett .......................... 15 ARTICLES Game conservation in Zululand 1824-1947: changing perspectives Beverley El/is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Lake St Lucia and the Eastern Shores: the role of the Natal Parks Board in the Environmental Impact Report Bill Bainbridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Of mountains and money: Bergwatch and the threats to the Drakensberg Jon White ........................... 61 Gandhi's Natal: the state of the Colony in 1893 Bill Guest ........................... 68 U-Boats off Natal: the local ocean war, 1942-1944 Bill BizLey 76 OBITUARIES Anthony and Maggie Barker .............. 99 Derek Milton Leigh .................... 101 Anthony S. Mathews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 103 Robert 'Treeman' Mazibuko .............. 104 Alexander John Milne ................. :. 107 Qumbu Mag(jubu Ntombela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Nancy Ogilvie ........................ 112 Enos Z. Sikhakhane .................... 113 Vryhof 'Roffy' van der Roven . . . . . . . . . . . .. 114 NOTES AND QUERIES Moray Comrie and John Deane 116 BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES .................... 128 SELECT LIST OF RECENT NATAL PUBLICATIONS. . . . . . . 142 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Editorial At the end of this year of enormous social and political change and, during the pre-election period, great tension and violence, we hope that the appearance of this double edition of Natalia may be seen as a mark of the return of normality and as a small celebration of the advent of democracy in South Africa. It was the intention of the editorial committee that Natalia 23 should appear as a special environmental edition at the end of 1993. To this end we requested articles on the controversy over the proposals for dune mining on the eastern shores of Lake St Lucia, and also intended to publish the findings of the Review Panel chaired by Mr Justice Ramon Leon. The year, however, drew to a close before finality was reached on the St Lucia issue and it was decided to postpone the publication of Natalia to enable the conclusion to be presented to our readers. When Judge Leon' s panel finally released its findings, it recommended that the mining of the dunes on the eastern shores of the lake should not be permitted and that the nature conservation option should be followed. There was, however, an important caveat. The Review Panel recognised, possibly for the first time in South African history, although this precedent has been rapidly followed in other instances, that the rights of the original inhabitants of the eastern shores evicted during the 1950s so that state forestry plantations could be established, need special attention. This introduced an important new dimension into the debate which has not yet been fully resolved. The delays in 1993 mean that it is the Government of National Unity which must now decide on the findings of the Review Panel, an altogether more satisfactory situation than having the previous government decide. This has affected Natalia in two ways. In the first place the publication of Natalia 23 was delayed for so long that it was decided to produce a double edition at the end of 1994. The editorial committee trusts that the reasons for the delay are acceptable to our readership and apologises for any inconvenience that may have been caused. In the second place, one of the main protagonists in the dune mining dispute, Richards Bay Minerals, decided, after the Review Panel had released its findings, that it was no longer appropriate for its staff to enter into public debate on this issue on behalf of the company. We respect this decision, but decided to continue with the publication of an article by Bill Bainbridge outlining the position of the Natal Parks Board on the issue. We regret that the opposing position could not be provided, in the interests of a balanced overview. Natalia 23 and 24 contains a mixture of environmental and other offerings, many focusing on changes in our society and province. We publish the 1994 Natal Society Lecture by Professor Brenda Gourley, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Natal, on changes in tertiary education and their effect on the University of Natal. The 1993 lecture was given by John Bradley of the Pietermaritzburg Planning Department, on changes in the 5 6 urban environment. As it was a presentation which depended to a large extent on screened visual material, it has not been possible to reproduce it in published form. The unpublished piece, edited by Pat Merrett, from Piet Hogg's reminiscences, in the well-known collection of colonial histories compiled by Christopher Bird, continues the environmental focus as it is aJi account of hunting trips to the St Lucia area in the mid-nineteenth century. An article by Beverley Ellis explores the development of nature conservation in Zululand from its beginnings to 1947, when the Natal Parks Board was established. We then offer Bill Bainbridge's article on the role of the Natal Parks Board in the dispute over the St Lucia dune mining. The environmental section concludes with Jon White's article on threats of inappropriate development to the other environmental treasure of the province, the Drakensberg range, and on the activities of the monitoring group Bergwatch. Bill Guest presents a commemorative article on Natal in 1893, the year Mohandas Gandhi was evicted from the train at Pietermaritzburg station in a racial incident which sparked off his remarkable career of non-violent protest, but also the year that white Natal settlers received responsible government from Britain. Our fifth article is also appropriately timed, given the interest in the fiftieth anniversary of the Normandy landings that liberated Europe from the Nazi occupation. Bill Bizley offers an account of the neglected topic of submarine warfare off the Natal coast during the Second World War. The last blows in this naval campaign were also struck fifty years ago. Natalia 23 and 24 also, regrettably, contains an unprecedented number of obituaries of prominent persons in the province. We note with sadness the passing of Magqubu Ntombela and Robert 'Treeman' Mazibuko, two great environmentalists, 'Hoffie' van der Hoven, Tony Mathews, academic and human rights lawyer, Alexander John Milne, former judge president of Natal, Dick Leigh, a well known artist, the Revd Enos Sikhakhane, founder of the Edendale Lay Ecumenical Centre, Charles and Maggie Barker, pioneering medical missionaries in Zululand, and Nancy Ogilvie, a pillar of Pietermaritzburg society. The Notes and Queries section contains a range of snippets, from historic buildings to apartheid exhibitions with a brief excursion into marine biology, which we hope will appeal to readers. As this is a double edition, there is an extensive section of book reviews, which is also an indication of the vigour of scholarship in and about our region, despite the economic climate and the problems of transformation. The usual list of select publications on Natal is appended. The foreboding with which we entered 1994 has been replaced with a sense of relief at the success of the elections, of joy at the attainment of democracy and at our return to the international community, including the Commonwealth, once so dear to many Natalians. Huge changes still confront us, particularly in the local government sphere, but other small changes are still noteworthy. The Natal Society Council has also been enlarged to reflect the library's role in providing information services to the Greater Pietermaritzburg metropolitan region and we welcome the appointment of Andrew Kaniki, Hitler Mbambo and Thulisile Radebe as new members, together with that of John Conyngham, who replaces the late Gordon Anderson. The editor would like to record his thanks to the members of the editorial committee who took on extra work to enable him to concentrate on his thesis on Fort Napier, particularly John Deane, who has acted as co-editor and provided essential support at a crucial stage in the production of the journal. GRAHAM DOMINY The Natal Societv Annual Lecture Wednesday, 19 October 1994 Issues in Tertiary Education The issues in tertiary education are multiple and indeed, some of them are no different to the ones in other educational institutions. They affect KwaZuluNatal as they do all the other provinces, but perhaps we feel the urgency for their resolution more keenly in this province because we are so painfully aware of the proportionally larger backlogs to be addressed. I shall spend a small amount of time outlining the more obvious ones, and then move on to describe the less obvious issues which are considerably more complex and difficult to address. Financial sustainability All institutions in the tertiary sector are finding it impossible to run their operations with the funding presently available to them. The most pressing concern is the number of students who are totally without financial support. In any system where education is not free, this is a problem. In South Africa, trying to overcome a history of deprivation, it is exacerbated. We have to find a way of funding students. Individual universities and other institutions cannot possibly solve the problem of so-called 'financial exclusion' on their own. The establishment of an adequate national student loan fund is probably one of the single most significant actions to promote access and avoid financial disaster and major disenchantment in individual institutions. We should be lobbying wherever it is possible for us to do so, to make sure it is established as quickly as possible. This is not as difficult as it would first appear. The Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa (TEFSA) set up by the Independent Development Trust is operating effectively and has in place all the necessary procedures as well as staff trained in their administration. It simply means that more funds need to be given to it, and there are several overseas agencies ready to do this. The issue then will be whether the amounts available will be large enough to solve the problem, and if they are not, how priorities are to be determined. It follows therefore that it is not helpful to support moratoriums either on fee increases or on so-called 'financial exclusions'. Fee increases are forced on universities which wish to avoid deficit budgeting. Where there is no sanction at all on students who do not pay their fees, there is no incentive whatever to pay. This applies even to those who have bursary or loan support. In the face of inflation and in the absence of an educational system which is free, there is no way that a blanket moratorium on fee increases and 'financial exclusions' is practicable. Natalia 23 and 24 (1993/94), H. Gourley pp. 7-14 8 Issues in Tertiary Education Access Improving access includes a whole range of possibilities. We need to rely even less on the matric results as an indication of potential, and concentrate on the whole range of alternative selection programmes. We know that a lot of research has been done in this area and it is time we stood back from our pet projects and do some evaluation. We cannot afford for resources to be used in isolation, we need to recognise that we share this problem and we should share our successes in this field. If fierce competitors like IBM and Apple can embark on joint ventures, then I think we can as well. I must add that improving access should include recognition of life exerience, a recognition which is given in many reputable institutions in other parts of the world. We also need to use the resources we have more fully: this will mean more part-time classes, more short courses, summer and winter schools with credit-earning courses, possibly a third semester, more adult education, and perhaps most important of all, more distance education. All these help to increase access in an emergency situation, speed up the educational process, contribute to the concept of lifelong learning, and assist in re-training and re-education. They also have the additional bonus of maximising the use of resources, both physical and human. Again, we are fortunate that we do not have to 'rein vent the wheel'. Many countries have battled with this problem of access and formulated some very successful models. In the Netherlands, for example, there is an open distance learning university which operates with 200 staff members and has 60 000 students. The preparation of material is contracted out to some of the best academics in the world and the quality of the learning is acknowledged as very good indeed. There are other examples of countries with problems not too different to our own, and we should not be persuaded that we are so unique that there is no model in the world that will fit our circumstances well enough. There are other matters which will assist. For example, we need more flexible degree structures so that students can move in and out of the system as their finances allow. We need an education system which promotes mobility from one institution to another and where there is a system which works to form bridges for students from one institution to another, even from one level of institution to another, that is, from technikons to universities and vice versa. In this context, I am reminded of an action (what I would call an 'affirmative action') taken by the University of the Witwatersrand after the Second World War. They made all sorts of accommodations for returning soldiers. They perceived a crisis and they acted accordingly. Ladies and gentlemen, we too are in crisis - a crisis of quite different proportions to that of the mid-forties. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and improving access must be achieved by every way we can imagine. Our country and our people will be immeasurably enriched in the long term by such efforts. I would even go so far as to say that our survival as a quality system depends upon it. Standards The third issue, which ex ists in some people's minds, is that of standards. It is helpful here to distinguish between entry standards and exit standards. All sorts of flexibility has been introduced into the entry standards and this is necesssary in the situation where we are unable to use matriculation results as a predictor, and the comments already made about access are relevant. It is not, however, in 9 Issues in Tertiary Education anyone's interest for exit standards to be lowered, nor ineed have I met anyone who argues otherwise. What we must be careful about is labelling something as a quality product just because it is part of the present system. There are many aspects of the present system which should not be defended on grounds of quality and should be dealt with appropriately. We cannot afford them. I shall return to this later. Governance The new order, quite rightly, places a high value on democratic procedures being used in the process of governing institutions. Business organisations have long recognised the importance of participative management and I do not see this as very different. The question of staffing institutions to represent the demography of our country is part of this issue but the question of governance goes much deeper than that. There may well be a number of black people and women on the staff of a previously white establishment, but the question is: have they the opportunity to make any significant difference to the decisions which affect the life of that organisation? If they have not, then there are some important matters which must be acknowledged. The first is that the practice of so-called affirmative action is then cosmetic and in the end will fail, adding to the long list of similar failures elsewhere, just another example of history repeating itself, mankind unwilling to learn from past mistakes. The tragedy is, of course, not just that as a country and a nation we cannot afford such mistakes, it is also a record of personal tragedy - individuals who came in all good faith into a system where they expected to be judged on merit and found only prejudice and ultimately, disillusionment. The second matter which must be acknowledged is the awful waste of skills which could make the system so much better. There is no question that the experience and perceptions which black people and women bring to the organisation will vastly improve the quality of that organisation and its governance. An institution in which all population elements work well must include in its planning and other decision-making teams 'black colleagues who are respected as the indispensable experts that they are. They are the only people who have the background experience to help structure (for example) proper affirmative action. Similarly, the experience of women is essential to an organisation which needs to cope with the modern world.' (Margaret Legum in Die Suid Afrikaan). Both men and women bring qualities which are essential for today's fast-changing world where human relations are crucial to success. The brutal truth is that the inclusion of black people and women in the decision making structures (that is, in the governance) of the universities and other places of higher education, will actually raise standards, not lower them - a theory somewhat contrary to popular belief. Julian Sonn writing in Die Suid Afrikaan maintains that 'a major part of our personal liberation will have to be the acceptance of our African, European and Asian heritage. This process can be facilitated by extensive discussion of cultural, world view and ethos differences and similarities so that all these differences [and similarities] can be recognised and understood. In fact, the process of knowing these differences [and similarities] leads to a genuine appreciation of the contributions that alI employees can make to enhance the effectiveness and productivity of the organisation' . I agree with Mala Singh when she writes that affirmative action is about 'generating large-scale educational opportunities rather than about targeting a 10 Issues in Tertiary Educatioll select group of individuals for advancement; it is about overall democratisation and the transformation of institutional and organisational culture rather than including a few more individuals in decision-making ..., (it) is not only about the implementation of a different, more equitable principle of distribution but about how such principles are chosen, by whom and with what outcomes'. In the end it is essentially about governance and it is why students and others talk about such matters as questions of what they call 'transformation'. 'Less obvious issues' I turn now to my fifth and final point ~ a point I previously labelled as containing 'less obvious' issues. These issues are concerned with changes in curricula ~ what we at the University of Natal have identified as a fundamental strategic initiative of the University and that is curriculum reform. It is necessary to break this topic down into several parts. It is important that tertiary educational institutions examine their programmes and curricula and ask themselves whether at least some of those programmes and curricula are sufficiently focused to produce the type of graduate who will effectively contribute to the national agenda of reconstruction and development. I would argue that, in general, they do not. So far, tertiary education has concentrated on producing graduates who are destined (by and large) for the first-world sector of our economy, and the private sector at that. I acknowledge that the demands of the corporate world and the professions must be met and this is a necessary and worthy activity that must continue. This is not at issue at all. However, what must be also realised is that there is another demand which is not being met. This is from a different market in the public, small business and informal sectors, sectors which include non-government organisations, community-based organisations and the like. Indeed, it is in these areas that more jobs will be generated than in the corporate and professional world. Big business in the last decade has, in fact, shed jobs. It is in these areas that we find the problems of a developing society and we need to produce excellent graduates capable of addressing them and providing informed leadership. We also need to recognise that, for the foreseeable future at least, tertiary education institutions are the only organisations which indeed have the capacity to provide the education required to meet this need. Addressing the problems of development and indeed the transformation of the public sector will bring some very different and difficult realities to the design of programmes and curricula. The first of these is what Capra describes as 'the beginning of a fundamental change of world view in science and society, a change as radical as the Copernican Revolution ... The more we study the major problems of our time, the more we come to realise that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems ~ interconnected and interdependent ... The emerging new paradigm may be called a 'holistic' world view, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated collection of parts.' The new paradigm has profound consequences. Over the last three hundred years the curriculum has been organised largely in terms of disciplines. This promotes the 'old paradigm', the tendency to view the world of nature, life and work as segmented, differentiated into parts. Curricula and research design need to be organised in such a way that scholars are produced who go beyond the isolated facts, who make connections across disciplines, who help shape a more coherent view of knowledge and a more integrated and authentic view of life. 11 Issues in Tertiary Education The academic world has already responded somewhat through the development of a new range of hyphenated disciplines like bio-engineering and psycho-linguistics and a host of others. This is becoming more and more evident in collaborative research work across disciplines. Nowhere is this truer than in development work like health care, economics, social, education and housing. After all, problems in the real world are seldom so kind as to divide themselves into disciplines. It will be the responsibility of the institutions to create ways of fostering these connections, promoting systemic thinking and facilitating interdisciplinary studies, and I am happy to report that the University of Natal is doing exactly that. Transformation is also concerned with what has been traditionally taught and even with how the teaching process is conducted. Changing curricula is perhaps a transformation rather easier to achieve than the others. Universities in South Africa must confess to being, at least until fairly recently, very Eurocentric in their approach. Examples abound. We had French and German departments long before we had Zulu or any other African language departments. We taught English and European history long before we taught (or researched) any African history. Architectural students were given assignments that had everything to do with first-world concerns and nothing to do with the concerns of the very people they were supposed to be serving. It must be quite clear that we are not talking about 'standards' here. It is no more difficult to study Jane A u s t ~ n than Es'kia Mphahlele. Whatever the content of the curricula, whatever process we use, indeed whatever we do, we are obliged to do it well. What we are talking about here is the issues we address in our unviersities and indeed how we teach. Our schooling system in general does not encourage intellectual abstraction, lateral thinking and analytical synthesising. This requires new teaching methods which are relevant to the cognitive framework of the students, it requires some major adaptation which recognises that. We also need to acknowledge that, distance education apart, the education that goes on at any tertiary institution does not all take place in the lecture theatre or laboratory. The cultural and sporting life, the leisure and other facilities all add up to total experience - as indeed they do in a school environment. If students come to university but feel alienated, do not mix except with those other students whose background they share, the opportunity for learning is radically reduced. Again I believe it is part of our responsibility, part of an affirmative action, to assist in creating a more cohesive student body which mixes socially across racial and gender divides and maximises the opportunity that university life offers. There is a further and very significant and dramatic change which has taken place in education circles. It springs from an understanding of the impact of technology on what is taught and how it is taught. John Scully, one time chairman of Apple Computers, has called this time in history 'the turning of an era, the start of the 21st century renaissance'. He envisages this renaissance galvanised in much the same way as the last renaissance, that is, by technology. This time, however, it is not the technology of printing but of information. Computers and their capacity for simulation, inter-activeness, artificial intelligence and the use of hypermedia, mobile cellular telephone technology, fax machines, networks, global broadcasting, satellite-directed television and video cassettes all combine to put information ('knowledge' in the terms of yesteryear) in the hands of many. Educational institutions in a very real sense have lost their strategic advantage. As Graham Hills points out 'the interactive computer, with its compact video discs, shows itself to be a superior 12 Issues in Tertiary Education vehicle for the transmission of facts, knowledge, ideas and, above all else, images.' The consequence for educational institutions is nowhere better illustrated than by the phenomenal increase in the conference and educational video business. People like James Martin, the information technology guru, will charge large sums of money to speak at a conference and bring conference participants up to date on the latest thinking in the field. He does not need a university to provide him with an audience. He addresses global audiences (via satellite communication) and sells video tapes of the lecture to those who missed the satellite transmission. 'The habits of the scriptorum, essentially that of the students writing down the words of the professor, will not survive in competition with the more attractive methods of displaying text, equations, diagrams, and images now readily available to anyone with a disc-driven personal computer.' (Hills) This is not to say there is no role for the teacher, but it is radically different. Educational institutions which do not face up to this reality will become redundant. They will be further impelled by the logic of the market place. Changes, as Graham Hills points out 'offer choices in subject material, in time frames, in spatial orientation, and in costs, all irresistible to our consumer society. It will be for the modern university to shape the options, to package and repackage them for a variety of purposes including its own.' The reality now lies essentially in what is taught and, even more important, how. The focus changes from content-dominated syllabi to process-dominated syllabi. We know that 'it is no longer possible to teach anybody all that they need to know for any career. There is no ration of knowledge that they can draw on throughout their careers and even more significantly, much of what they know will become obsolete within a relatively short period after graduating. This means that we must prepare all students, not just professional scholars, to embark on a lifetime of learning. Students today should master, as part of their basic education, the skills and tools of independent enquiry that characterises research. They must learn to work independently while also learning that knowledge does not reside privately in individual minds, or text books, or journals, or libraries or laboratories or data bases. Knowledge is integrated and resides in a complex web or network that intermeshes all these with experience.' (University of Natal, Planning Guidelines, 1993) We also know that what Graham Hills says is true when he writes that 'every day, hundreds (sometimes thousands) of students still cram into lecture theatres and auditoria to copy down the words of a distant professor and regard his activity as the main basis of their education. It is a sad reflection not only of shortage of resources but of the slowness of the academic establishemt to appreciate that knowledge transfer and knowledge accumulation are a less important aspect of the student's experience than acquiring the skills of learning, of understanding, and of presentation, none of which can be acquired in the lecture hall. 'Learning' is the key word in the new world, dominated as it is by changes and invention and new products being produced at a rate unprecedented in our previous history. Peter Senge writes about 'the learning organisation' making the point that change is so rapid and is such a key feature of modern life that unless an organisation consciously constitutes itself as a learning organisation it is consigning itself to Jurassic Park. Tom Peters says there are only two kinds of managers: the quick and the dead. He advises employers to employ only the curious (and it is no accident that word is inextricably linked with learning), 13 Issues in Tertiary Education the zestful and the creative. he advises would-be employees to louk for customers not bosses and points to many highly successful products or services that started in just that way (like the Apple computer that was first made in somebody's garage). All these things have a very big impact on what we teach our students, or rather what we require them to learn. All these things inform the curriculum reform project which is a major strategic initiative at the University of Natal. This brings me to my next point. Some institutions have excellent research capacity. There is no question that the use of that capacity can contribute very substantially to the achievement of pressing national objectives. The research capabilities of some universities can play an important part in solving the pressing problems of the communities which we are bound to serve. Indeed, it is my contention that to ignore such problems would not not only an ethical failure, it would be an intellectual failure as well. There are a host of policy issues that are going to require the skills and expertise of our academics to research and assist. If universities do not put a high priority on these activities, (not to the total exclusion of others, but nevertheless a high priority) they can hardly, I submit, be truly serving the community which s u ~ l a i n s them and which finds itself in the crisis we all rcognise as being of substamial proportions. We are also bound, I believe, to address ourselves to building research capacity in our regions and embarking on, and actively encouraging, collaborative and other projects to facilitate this. Conclusiof1 In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is true to say that the issues we face mean that the management of tertiary institutions will have to 'manage change' on a scale unprecedented in our history - but in the end it is individual people who make things happen. Individuals will have to realise that each and everyone can make a difference. As individuals, and especially as individuals interested in tertiary education we need to ask ourselves what actions (actions that I would classify as affirmative actions in some cases) are we, as individuals, capable of implementing? Everyone of us here this evening is capable of contributing to our efforts in this regard - whether it be acting as mentors, facilitators, donors, agents of change, teachers at every level (including explaining in whatever circles you mix, the issues which cloud understanding and become obstacles to change). As individuals, we are positively responsible for working towards the collective goal. Institutional effort will only work with individuals' effort - individuals who together make up the stakeholders in the future of tertiary education. We are truly in a race between education and disaster, ladies and gentlemen. This is not a time for hesitancy, it is a time for action. It is not a time for negativism, it is a time for enthusiastic and positive effort. It is not a time for competition, it is a time for co-operation and collaboration. We are rich in knowledge, ladies and gentlemen - let us not be poor in wisdom. BRENDA GOURLEY 14 Issues in Tertiary Education BIBLIOGRAPHY I. Die SuidAti"ikaan, May-June, 1993. 2. Mala Singh. Unpublished paper on Affirmative Action. University of Durban-Westville, 1993. 3. Graham Hills. Universitirs of Tomorrow. CEPES, 1994. 4. University of Natal. I'Janning Guidelines, 1994. 5. Stan Davis and Jim Botkin. 'The Cuming of Knowledge-based Business'. Harvard Business Review. September-October, 1994. 6. Tom Peters. Crazy Times Ca/lti'r Crazy l'eo{Jle. London. Macrnillan, 1994. Piet Hogg's remlnlscences Introduction Piet (or Peter) Hogg's reminiscences of life in early Natal - like those of Thomas Green (published in Natalia 22, 1992) - were solicited in 1896 by the colonial government. l Hogg was then 67 years old and as he was illiterate and living on a farm in the Dundee area, he had to hire and accommodate a secretary to record his memories. The manuscript is in the Bird Papers in the Natal Archives and is very legible. There are abbreviated handwritten and typescript copies in the Killie Campbell Africana Library, and an outline of his early career, with a photograph, appears in Barbara Buchanan', Natal memories2 For reasons of space, only nine pages (pp. 30-9) of the manuscript in the Natal Archives are reproduced. These deal with various hunting trips he made or organised to the Zulu, Swazi and Gaza kingdoms between 1851 and 1859, and besides other aspects of colonial life, they give some idea of how destructive European and African hunters could be to the fauna north of the Thukela River. Caution should be exercised when reading these early reminiscences. Hogg's memory for dates and facts was inevitably inaccurate at times and there may be other undetected errors. In addition. apart from being illiterate. he may well have been somewhat innumerate, as an assessment of his hunting statistics below suggests. It is also possible that he embellished facts,3 either to inflate his role in Natal's early history or to enhance his social status, both of which were modest. Piet Hogg (1829-1902) came from humble stock. He was born in Worcester, Cape Colony to John Hogg, a Scottish artisan immigrant, and Susanna Wilhelmina Odendaal4 from Swellendam. This mixed background influenced Hogg's life in various ways for it created in him divided loyalties which were to have grave consequences for him at the end of his life5 After Hogg's mother died, his father John went on a number of adventurous British-sponsored expeditions, one of which involved the rescue of the survivors of the Louis Trichardt trekker expedition from Delagoa Bay on the Mazeppa in I R39(' (One such survivor. Mrs Johanna Kok was to have a daughter, Anna Susanna, who became Hogg's second wife in 1879). John Hogg then settled in Port Natal and sent for Pi et who joined him in late 1840. Hogg devoted five pages to a description of the dramatic British-Boer engagement in 1842 during his thirteenth year: his father was imprisoned by the Boers along with G. C. Cato, S. Beningfield and H. Ogle (all of whom feature in the extract below), while Piet claimed that he assisted Dick King to swim his horses across the Bay at the start of his famous ride 7 The material needs of the small, undeveloped selllement at Port Natal and its British military and naval forces (the latter engaged in the suppression of the slave trade) created various labouring and service occupations for the Hoggs, including woodcutting, victualling the military and naval forces on contract for two years, and then brickmaking, also under contract, for about six years, in which timber was probably also used. Hogg thus also played a direct rolc in the exploitation of Port Natal's timber resources, which in turn destroyed the habitat of buck and birds.R Like so many early colonists. Hogg took up hunting and trading. These were the main local economic activities until at least the 1860s" as most pioneers could shoot and the profits could be enormous: according to one source these could be about 500%.10 In the late 1840s the Hoggs formed a 'hunting company' with William Proudfoot (SOil of a Scottish landowner) and Elephant White" although he only mentions them on two hunting excurSIOns in 1848 and 1850. Hogg hunted for only eleven years due to frequent attacks of fever and a financial (and human) disaster on his last and most ambitious expedition to the Gaza kingdom. but he usually hunted with from one to four white hunters and with between 25 and 50 African hunters. The combined firepower of such groups was so considerable that within fifty veal's Natal's major fauna was destroyed and by the 1850s elephants in the Zulu kingdom were scarce. I: Hogg claimed that on his first expedition. in I R4R. four Europeans and about 33 Africans bagged Nata/ia 23 and 24 (1993/94) P. Menett !cd.). pp. 15-26 16 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences over 3 OOOlbs of ivory (elephant and hippopotamus), that on a trip to Swaziland in 1858 eight men shot 95 elephants, and that the Gaza king had delivered I 000 tusks to his Portuguese agent in 1859, Since Hogg seems to have hunted almost every year between 1848 and 1859 (excluding the disastrous ycar of 185 I), and if these statistics are accurate, he and his companions killed a very substantial number of elephant and hippopotamus, either directly or indirectly, in the region north of the Thukela River. This remains true even if one feels doubtful about some of Hogg's figures, For instance, the 95 elephants killed by eight men in 1858 he says were shot in a mere two hours; given the difficulties and dangers of hunting elephants'] this seems a remarkable feat. His claim that these creatures wele part of a troop of about I 500 - 2 000 also seems exaggerated; the largest herds recorded by contemporaries seem to have been hetween 200 and 500,14 In addition, Hogg's claim that he equipped about 400 African hunters in 1859 (for an outlay of over 2 000) and that he virtually lost 80 000 as a result of their murder by Soshangane, also seems extravagant for that era and particularly for someone in his social class, The estimated value of all ivory exports through Durban from north of the Thukela in 1853 was only about 3 600,15 A rough calculation of what Hogg might have earned from his hunting reveals the following: since they earned about four or five shillings per pound of ivory and paid their African hunters one third of the profits, 16 on the 1848 trip the four white hunters could have earned ahout 125 each, which equalled the lower scale of a magistrate's clerk/interpreter's annual salary in the early 1860sI7 The 95 elephants shot in 1858 could have earned each hunter about 300 (assuming an average weight of 50lb, per tusk and onc third payment to possihle African retainers), Even if Hogg did have over 2000 to invest in 1859, Chapman's suggestion that ivory profits of 500% were would only have yielded approximately 10 000. Whatever the true facts were, Hogg does not seem to have hecome a wealthy man. At the end of his hunting career he moved to the Biggarsberg where he traded with the Transvaal Boer" then moved to a farm near Grey town which he says he bought. Here his first wife died. In 1879 he transported goods for the British during the Anglo-Zulu War, remarried and settled again near the Biggarsberg where he kept a hotel and then retired on IJriefiJnlein farm. He had to appeal to the colonial government to pay his expenses of hiring a secretary to record his reminiscences. I" After he was jailed for treason, his wife had to go and live with a daughter near Grey town as their house and furniture were destroyed in the Anglo-Boer War.'" Hogg died intestate and without property, apparently in the Salvation Army home at 205 West Street, Pietermaritzburg on 22 August 190221 These reminiscences reveal many aspects of life in the pioneering phase of Natal's early history apart from hunting, such as the physical hardships and dangers, a degree of social mixing which was typical of colonial communities, the diplomatic customs to be followed when entering the Zulu kingdom to hunt and when visiting Zulu royalty, the goods traded with Africans, the names and activities of a number of fellow European colonists, and some fascinating passing references to the Gaza kingdom, the slave trade and the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay, The punctuation and spelling of the original manuscript have been faithfully transcribed except for the occasional use of inverted commas round some personal and place names, If there is no note attached to a personal name it means that the individual has not bccn identified. Acknowledgements I am greatly indebted to Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer for most of the biographical background to the settlers, and to Bobby Eldridgc at Killic Campbell Africana Library for photocopies of all the Hogg material. NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION References to the original manuscript in the Natal Archives are to the most recent pagination in square brackets. I. Sce Natalia 22 (1992), p, J5, for an account of this project. 2, NA, Bird Papers, A 79, v,7; KCAL, Uncatalogued mss files - Peter Hogg; Natal memories (Pietermaritzburg, Shuter and Shooter, 1941), chap, VII (The photograph is opposite p.63. Buchanan claims to have had a nephew who knew Hogg in his Dundee days, Her account is not entirely accurate and is not comprehensive). 3. I am indebted to Shelagh Spencer for this suggestion. 4, See Hogg's first death notice, 12.9.1902, for his mother's name, in NA, MSCE, 141114. John Hogg died in Pietennaritzburg in October 1850. 17 Pief Hogg's Reminiscences 5. His wives were Dutch and his children had mixed English and Dutch names. In his reminiscences he confessed his lifelong loyalty to the British government (p. 14) and his death certificate listed him as of 'Scotch' nationality, but during the Anglo-Boer War, he and a son were charged with treason. Hogg was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 1900 at the age of 71 years. See NA, CSO, v. 1683, 1"0117002, Anna Susanna Hogg to Colonial Secretary. 8.8.1901; and AGO, v. 1/8/84, 20lAI1902 Minute Paper, 24.1.1902, re Rex vs Jan Peter Hogg and others in the Special Court, Dundee. 6. For the Trichardt party sec The OX/IITd History of South Africa v. I, ed. by M. Wilson and L. Thompson, (Clarendon Press, 1969), pp. 410-1. 7. See E. H. Brookes and C. de B. Wehh A history of Natal (Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press), 1965, pp. 38-9 for a description of these events. 8. See B.ElIis 'The impact of white settlers on the natural environment of Natal, 1845-1870' in B. Guest and J. M. Sellers (eds) Enterprise and exploitation in a Victorian colony (Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1985), p.74 (on brick-making) and p.92. 9. See R. B. Struthers Hunting journal 1852-1856 in the Zulu Kingdom and nonga regions ed. by P. L. Merrett and R. Butcher, (Durban, Killie Campbell Africana Lihrary, 1991), pp. (24)-(26) for an analysis of hunting and trading in Natal's early economy. 10. See J. Chapman Travels in the interior of South Africa v.l, London, Bell, 1868, p. 195 where he says that for goods worth 200, traders eould make a profit of I 000 from ivory from the Lake Ngami region in the 1850s. 11. Hogg said that Elephant White was given that name by the Africans due to his size and strength, that he was a popular figure and that he finally went to the Australian goldfields (p. 29). White is also mentioned on two other hunting trips in 1852: see w.e. Baldwin Africall hUIlting and adventure (Cape Town, Struik, 1967) (repr. of 1894 ed.), chapter I, and G.c. Cato to R.J. Garden, 17.10.52, in NA, Garden Papers, A1157, V.I. 12. See Struthers Hunting journal, pp.(28)-(3I). 13. See, for example, Baldwin African hunting and adventure, pp. 368-9 and Struthers, pp. 57, 69-70,80-1,86-7. George Shadwell ('two parties and a whole posse of guns') took a whole season to shoot 91 elephants in 1853; see Baldwin, p.54. 14. For Hogg's hunting area see, for example, A. Delegorgue Travels in southern A.frica v. I, translated by F. Webb ... (Durban, Killie Camphell Africana Lihrary, 1990), p.251 (he estimated that in 1842 there could not have been more than 1 500 elephants between the Thukela and the Phongolo because of the large territory they needed); and FJeming's account of seeing 200 elephants in Swaziland in 1852 - see P. H. Butterficld 'A military Nimrod in mid-19th century Natal' in Atrirana notes and news v.29, 6 (June 1991) p.240. For troops in the interior, see for example Chapman Travels in the interior ( ~ f South Africa v.l, p.26 and W. Cornwallis Harris' sighting of about 300 elephants in 1836 near the Magaliesberg recorded in S. D. Le Roux Pioneers "nd sportsmen o!South AfTica, 1760-1890 (Salisbury, the Author, 1939), p. 37. 15. See Ellis, 'The impact of white settlers on the environment of Natal, 1845-1870', p.87. 16. These seem to have heen paid in cattle: see pp.28 and 41. 17. See Struthers, Hunting journal. p. (27). 18. See n. 10 above. 19. See N A CSO, v. 1494, 18971134 Hogg to Colonial Secretary 4/11 1897. 20. CSO, v. 1683, 190117002, A. S. Hogg to Colonial Secretary 8/81190 I. 21. Sce Hogg's Death Notices in NA, MSCE, 141114 (September 1902). PAT MERRETT Extracts from Piet Hogg' s Reminiscences ... In the early part of 1851, I five gentlemen arrived from Europe, (two Englishmen, two Scotchmen, and one Frenchman), who were desirous of exploring the country, of drawing up charts of the same, and of hunting; they intended to follow these pursuits for two years, and required for that period of time the services of one, or two, men, who could speak English, Dutch & Zulu; the name of the Frenchman was D' Elgasse, those of the remainder I have forgotten. Mr George Cato' was their agent, and a man named William Mayas3 and I were deputed, by Mr c., to accompany them; our engagement was for two years, and, on returning, we were to leave them at Cape Town; we then had the choice of coming back to Durhan by sea, or by land, at their expense. (See Mr G. Cato's records in connection with these people).4 And now I am about to relate one of the most horrible, and thrilling, experiences which ever befell a human being, and which might not fall to the lot of one person in a thousand. We started, in the beginning of March, well furnished with amunition and provisions, with ten or twelve Kafirs, and with one or two horses; these latter died en route of horse-sickness; we took one wagon only.In accordance with the wishes of these gentlemen, we made direct for the upper end of St. Lucia Bay, (leaving our wagon and oxen some fourteen miles on this side of our destination), and, on arrival, in the early part of April, found that we had come too soon in the year, as the fever season (an exceptionally severe one) had not yet passed.The travellers all succumbed to the deadly fever, also several of our Kafirs; the remainder ran away, leaving William Mayas and I alone; we were attacked as well, delirious too, at times; and one day, when the fever had somewhat abated, I experienced the horrible reality that I was alone amongst the dead! Mayas had left! when, and how, or whither gone I knew not then; (We met afterwards);5 what became of the wagon & oxen, I know not; the bodies of the dead were not buried; the delirium at times was dreadful, and, when the fever gradually abated, I found myself more dead than alive, with the cord of my tongue contracted. I attribute the deaths of the travellers to the fact that they persisted in adopting their own method of medical treatment, in preference to our more simple (although, perhaps, more nauseating) form.6 On gaining strength, I tried to make my way, by slow degrees, to the Tugela River, having my rifle & amunition with me; I had no fear, and a sense of perfect indifference to danger seemed to take possession of me; I was resting one day, having, probably, covered a distance of 80 miles from camp, when I saw a white man approaching on a pack-ox, and, though unaware of my 19 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences presence in the neighbourhood, he was coming directly towards me; I sat quite still; when he saw me, he was much surprised at meeting a lonely white man in that part of the country, - and under such circumstances; we recognized each other, and, to my joy, he was one of my boyhood's companions Hendrick Strydom;7 neither could speak for, at first, we were choked with tears. When we had overcome our first emotion, and were able to speak, I asked him if he would, kindly go to Durban for my wagon; this he readily agreed to do, and explained that he, Mr Durus Potgieter senior, Mr Henry Tafell & Mr Coos KruhtRhad come to that neighbourhood to hunt; that he was in front to look out for game, a practicable road etc, and that the before-mentioned persons were following in the wagon; it very soon came up, and I was made comfortable, and well cared for. Hendrick Strydom started at once for Durban, and returned, with my wagon, in about 2 weeks; we then left together, and, on arrival, I was kindly received into his mother's house, and attended by Dr Best of the 45th regiment.Under his treatment and the kind nursing & care of the Strydom family,9 I soon recovered. When quite well, I decided to build a house on my erf of land, and, for that purpose, procured stock bricks from a discharged soldier whose name I have forgotten.- I also bought necessary furniture etc, and it all ended in my marrying Mrs Strydom's eldest daughter, III who had been very kind and attentive to me during my illness.The wedding ceremony was performed, in the morning, by the Revnd. Lindley, 11 (probably the first American Missionary to come to Natal before the arrival of the Dutch), at his Mission Station north of the Umgeni River; we returned to Durban in the afternoon, and the wedding-supper, at 6PM, was honoured by H.E. Governor Pine,12 who was then in authority, and who had expressed a wish, through Mr lames Proud foot, 13 to see a Dutch wedding; he joined in a waltz with the bride, and appeared to enjoy himself heartily; the other friends present were Mr Samuel Benningfieldl4 and all his family, Mr Katzl5 & wife, Messrs William & lames Proudfoot,16 lohn & Thomas Cato (nephews of Mr George Cato),17 Dr Best (45th Regt), Capt Durnford (45th Regt),IR and one or two other officers whose names I have forgotten; also Mr Henry Tafell, Mr Durus Potgieter senior, Mr Comelis Vermaak,19 and many others. In May 1850, I again left for a hunt, in Zululand, on a larger scale, leaving my wife with her mother, in Durban, and with her old Kafir nurse Martha, who dIed in the house of my wife's sister Mrs Rock. 211I must here pause, in order to explain a custom in vogue in those days when visiting a native King. When arranging to hunt etc, a messenger was always despatched, two or three days in advance, to inform the King of our approach, of the number of our party, and of the nature of the present which we were bringing with us.On reaching the King's Kraal, and delivering the message, the man stayed there, until the arrival of the party, as a guarantee of the good faith of the message sent.Upon receiving the news, the King would start off a trusty servant to the Kraal of the chief at which the travellers would first arrive, bidding him prepare a hearty welcome in the form of Killing a beast etc; on the party reaching this Kraal, another messenger was sent to the King, to tell him that the first stage in the journey had been reached, and the King's servant then went back to the Kraal of the next chief, telling him to prepare in a similar manner; 20 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences this operation was repeated until the party reached the last camping-place; it was, in fact, a system of fore-runners, On this trip, I had with me between 40 and 50 hunters, 2 wagons, and 2 pack-oxen, and the oldest son of Mr Ogle,21 When we reached the Zulu country, we made directly for King Mpanda's Kraal, staying the first night at that of a chief named Mazeba; we then pushed on 25 miles, and encamped at chief Umbuhlyana's Kraal, leaving here one wagon; we had now 35 miles only to trek, which distance we soon covered. King Mpanda22 received us very Kindly, and was very glad to see me again; I told him of my father's death, and that I was now a married man,Of course, he was anxious to see the present I had brought; and, when I told him that one man could not carry it, but that it would require three or four, he Kindly sent some men with me to the wagon to unload it; the gift consisted of a large quantity of beads, picks & blankets, and the King expressed himself highly delighted with it; the conversation afterwards became general, in connection with the current news of that day, and we then returned to our wagon, the King Kindly sending down a beast, at once, to be Killed for our consumption. At the end of two or three days, we returned to our other wagon, and thence began to hunt, in the uplands, between the Black & White Umfulusi Rivers; we followed the game to the upper part of St Lucia Bay, and returned to Durban, in September or October, having had a successful hunt.I omitted saying that, on this trip, King Mpanda Kindly presented me with a tusk of ivory weighing 95 lbs! (See Note B).23_ The foregoing is a fair description of our hunting trips for several subsequent years, and, when at home, I used my wagons & oxen for transport while residing in Durban, When hunting at the upper part of Sf Lucia Bay in 1851, I visited, alone, the scene of death which I have previously described, and picked up the scattered, and few remaining bones of my unfortunate companions, (Scotch, English, French etc), and buried them in a porcupine's hole; a few shreds of clothing too were lying about; the wolves, jackals, and other animals had, doubtless, been busy. In December 1852, I rented my house & erf in Durban, and moved out to a farm, called Waterbosch, at the head of the Nanuti River, which I had purchased24 from a man named Hans Delanger25 for one roll of canvas, and 36 yards of unbleached calico, just after the Dutch had evacuated Durban. When absent, I left my wife on the farm, and allowed Mr David Divana26 & his wife, Mr Duprit27 & his wife, and Mr William Adams28 & his' wife, with their families, to reside there, too, in separate houses, and to cultivate the land for their own use.On leaving to hunt in 1853, I took with me a Mr Charles Phillips,29 from Cape Colony, who contracted fever at the upper end of St Lucia Bay; I had fever also, so we trekked back to the Umsatusi, (leaving the hunters behind), and he died at Mr (afterwards Bishop) Schruder's Norwegian Mission. 30 We hunted as usual in the years 1854, 1855 and 1856; I employed my time, when at home, in working each year on the farm since our occupation; in the former year, above-mentioned, an English gentleman of title joined our party, (name forgotten), who was accompanied by, and in charge of, an old and trusted servant of his family; on one occasion, when hunting, they found themselves on the weather (wind) side of a herd of elephants, which, of course, charged them on getting the scent; one animal in particular made for the 21 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences gentleman, on seeing which the servant rushed in between his master and the animal, in order to save and protect him, but was seized and trampled to death; this cast a sad gloom over our party, and the gentleman returned to England in a broken-hearted condition. (See Mr George Cato's records).3! In 1857, I was accompanied on my hunting tour, by Mr David Divana who was Killed by a bull buffalo on the Umsatusi. Our hunting grounds were Zululand, and Swaziland as far as the Issabi River; while at the last-mentioned spot in 1858, we met an enormous troop of elephants trekking, (probably from 1 500 to 2 000), and killed 95 in about two hours; the work of 7 men & myself, after having surrounded them with fire. 32 In the same year, and when at the upper part of St Lucia Bay, I sent 2 men to Delagoa to purchase powder from the Portuguese governor;33 they took, for this purpose, 3 in gold and one lambs-wool blanket; while my men were there, they explained the terms upon which I engaged them to hunt; a slave, happening to overhear their conversation, determined to make a bolt for his freedom.My people procured the powder, and returned with it, the Portuguese governor sending a message by them, to the effect that he would like to see me, and to purchase some more blankets of the same Kind as that sent. About eight or ten days after this, the slave before-mentioned came to my camp at evening; my people, believing him to be a spy, were, at once, up in arms, seized him, and brought him to me; upon examination I found he was what he represented himself to be, a runaway slave, and satisfied my people upon that point; he was Kindly treated, and was overjoyed to find himself safe and free, having been granted permission to remain in camp, and to make himself useful.He said that he could take my hunters to a great King living ten days journey north of Delagoa, who would give them permission to hunt where elephants were very numerous; the name ofthe Manakosi (King) was Ushushanggana. 34 I bought more powder, for gold, from the Portuguese governor, but did not visit him.We reached Durban this year in September. In the same month I started off the runaway slave, with two of my men, to visit King Ushushanggana; they took with them samples of beads, blankets, native rings etc, also handkerchiefs, for the King's inspection and choice, with instructions to tell him that they were English goods: that I asked permission to hunt in his country for two years, and that if he would, Kindly, make a selection, from the samples of goods sent, I would bring him as much as would remunerate him for that period of time. The men returned in February, 1859, bringing with them samples of the articles chosen by the King, from those sent, and with his permission to hunt, for two years, on the sea side (coast) of his country; the upper part he had given to the Dutch to enjoy upon terms of friendship with himself. I commenced making preparations accordingly, and expended 1500 cash on guns, amunition, and trading-goods, and 70 on goods for King Ushushanggana; I also procured, through a Durban merchant named Ross,35 40 rifles, of English manufacture, costing 18 each; and I made 60,000 bullets of six to the lb., and 60,000 of eight to the lb. From the time the messengers returned from King Ushushanggana, great excitement prevailed amongst my hunters; they were eager to proceed to his country, (saying, if they hunted there for two years, they would, on their return, be enabled to lead a life of independence), but they did not wish me to 22 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences accompany them, as they saw plainly I was becoming more and more subject to attacks of fever; my wife, too, was very reluctant that I should proceed so far north, but I tried to pacify her by saying that I was only going to fetch the ivory from the slaughter of the 95 elephants before-mentioned. . It was my custom, when starting to hunt, to parade all my men in front of the house, in order that I might inspect all guns, rifles and bandoliers, issue amunition, and give general instructions for the march; upon this occasion, my wife, having overheard my remarks, addressed the men, telling them that if I went north of a certain line, they were to return without me. We started in May 1859, and trekked slowly, with two wagons and one salted horse, for the upper part of St Lucia Bay, (having sent two messengers in advance, one to Mpanda, and one to Cetewayo, saying that I was about to cross Zululand, in order to hunt north ofDelagoa Bay in the dominions of King Ushushanggana, and that my people numbered over four hundred), William Mayas and lohannes Strydom36 accompanying us.I afterwards learnt from Cetewayo that his spies had been watching us every night, on the other side of the Pongolo River, while we were crossing his territory. On arriving at St Lucia Bay, we left our wagons in charge of lohannes Strydom and some Kafirs, and divided into two parties, I taking, with my men, the upper side of the Pongolo to Swaziland, and William Mayas the lower side, with his men, to Delagoa. In Swaziland I was again the victim of fever, attacks occurring in the morning & evening, and my hunters then insisted that I, or they, should return to Natal; I waited, however, three days, in which time the fever abated somewhat, and considered well, in the mean-time, what a large outlay I had at stake; I finally decided to let my hunters proceed, and that I would return to Durban with the ivory of the 95 elephants.On the fourth morning I mustered all my people, and told them of my decision, that two men were to go to King Mswazi '.I' mother,37 asking her to send down my ivory at once to the wagons, and that one man was to accompany me; that the remainder would go to meet William Mayas at the lssabi River, explain matters to him, and would then proceed to hunt in King Ushushanggana '.I' country.I then left for my wagons. a journey of five days, and there awaited Mayas and the ivory. my health improving meanwhile; we were detained nearly three weeks, as the distance to be traversed by the (ivory) porters was fully 270 miles, an eighteen day's journey. I was accompanied by Mayas and lohannes Strydom to Natal, was again attacked by fever en route, and reached my farm (Waterbosch) in the latter part of October; I was then subject to periodical attacks for the two following years. In December, of the same year, while living quietly at home, I was one day surprised to see one of my men (Booi) returning and bringing with him 2 strange natives; after the usual salutation, the strangers explained that they were chiefs of King Ushushanggana who had sent them to say how pleased he was with my present. and that he gave me, in return, 1000 tusks of ivory, which had been duly delivered to my Portuguese c1erk;3R that he was very glad the English had come to his country, for he was tired of the Portuguese, and their cruel and unjust annual exactions in the form of ivory, and boys and girls for slaves; he believed that I was a man of influence, and begged that I would take 23 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences the two chiefs sent to the govern our of Natal, praying him to use his power & good offices towards the stoppage of this dreadful demand for slaves. 39 The chiefs were allowed to interview Government, with what result I never knew. When taking leave of my hunters & people in Swaziland, I little thought what a terrible calamity was about to overtake them, and me, but especially them.On a day of one of the winter months, in 1860, a hunter named Umfuguse, with his rifle-bearer, brought the awful news that all my people, numbering over four hundred had been killed by King Ushushunggana, and all my ivory, valued at 80,000, confiscated! a false report had been sent him by a person, whose name, for charity's sake, I suppress, to the effect that I was a friend of Mpanda and Cetewayo, and that I intended, with them, to invade Ushushanggana's territory in the following year, and to murder his people! that the hunting expedition was merely a blind, and that my real object was to spy out the land. 40_ I was simply staggered at this dreadful intelligence, so also the wives, children and families of the unfortunate slaughtered ones; the cries of agony, and wailing, of these poor souls, night and day, for two weeks, or more, were terrible! My hunting career now came to an end. NOTES TO THE EXTRACTS The references to Hogg's Reminiscences in the Natal Archives (Bird Papers, A79, v.7) are to the most recent pagination in square brackets. I. Hogg later contradicts himself (p. 39) by stating that this expedition occurred in 1849. This is one of many inaccurate dates: it probably did take place in 1851, the year of his marriage. It is clear from the context that other dates are also inaccurate. 2. George Christopher Cato (1814-93), early settler, merchant, later first Mayor of Durban and M.L.C. He was imprisoned by the Boers after the siege of Congella in 1842, along with John Hogg and a number of others. See S. O'B. Spencer British settlers in Natal 1824-1857: a biographical register Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1987, v.4, p.55. 3. William F. Mayoss, son of Henry George and Eliza Mayoss who both died in Durban, respectively in 1849 and 1852. He also accompanied a Charles Etty on a hunting trip as servant in 1851. On pp. 39-40 Hogg says that Mayoss lived with him after his marriage, that he hunted and traded for Hogg in Zululand, that in 1857 he married Elizabeth Shortt (whom the Hoggs had adopted), and that when the Hoggs moved to Helpmekaar Mayoss stll}'ild on Waterbosch (see n.24 below) and traded on his own account. In 1887 he was granted a 50 year concession in Swaziland (agricultural, pastoral and horticultural). Source: S. O'B. Spencer and her British settlers in Natal v. 6, p.50. 4. There is no such reference in Cato's Reminiscences in the Bird Papers, A79, v. 4, NA The present editor has not had the opportunity to cull the Cato Papers in Killie CampbelJ Africana Library. 5. In a Note (p. 39) Hogg describes Mayoss' experiences: after the fever subsided, Mayoss walked to the Thukela River where he met a Boer acquaintance who took him to be treated by Daniel Charles Toohey, trader, who was then living just south of the Thukela. Toohey took Mayoss to Mrs Strydom in Durban where Hogg met him later; Mayoss had lost all his hair. For more on Toohey see Thomas Green's Reminiscences (Natalia 22, 1992, p.20) and S. O'B. Spencer 'Green are the hills of Natal: early Irish settlers in Natal, 1824-1862' Southern African-Irish Studies 2, 1992, p. 192. 6. Hogg described this on p. 28: a large teaspoon of mustard and hot water as an emetic, followed by a large tablespoon of Stockholm tar three times daily. 7. Hendrick Strydom, member of the large Strydom family; see n.9 below. 8. Shelagh Spencer suggests that the first-named may be Dorus (or Theodorus) Potgieter (unidentified), and that the second was probably the Johannes Abraham Hendrick Davellisted in B. Cilliers Genealogiee van die A{rikaner families in Natal Kaapstad, Hiemstra Trust, 1985, p. 105. The last-named has not been identified. 24 Pief Hogg 's Reminiscences 9. The Voortrckker couple, Hendrick and Maria Elizabeth Strydom, had numerous sons and daughters, one of whom, also named Hendrick, was Hogg's 'boyhood's companion' (see n. 7 above). Thomas Green' s Reminiscences (sec Natalia no.22. Dee. 1992, p.20) says that Mrs Strydom, widow. was a well-known and popular figure in Durban who treated everyone's ailments. See also S. O'B. Spencer British sfttlers in Natal, v. I, p. II (entry under William Adams). 10. Anna Gertrude/Gertruida Strydom, by whom Hogg had five daughters. After her death Hogg remarried in 1879 and produced another daughter and two sons. He attempts to list his children and grandchildren (see pp. 9 and 42). Earlier (also on p. 9) Hogg claimed that he married on 10 Dec. 1849 but this is an example of his dubious dating for neither Lt-Gov. Pine (see n.12 below) nor Thomas Cato (see n. 17 below) were in Natal in 1849. 11. Daniel Lindley (1801-1880), Preshyterian minister and missionary (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) was sent to the interior in 1837 but when the Boers and Ndebele clashed, he came to Natal. He ministered to the Voortrekkers from 1841-46 and then returned to African missionary work at Inanda mission station until 1873. Sec E. H. Brookes and C. de B. Webb, A history III Naflll, Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1965, pp. 27-8. 12. Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine (1809-91) was appointed Lt-Governor in 1849 on the death of Martin West, hut only arrived in Natal in April 1850. 13. lames Proudfoot (b.1819), son of a Scottish landowner, came to Natal in 1843. He became a storekeeper, elephant hunter, Zulu trader and leading resident in Durban until he returned to Scotland in 1862. Sce A. F. Hatters]ey The British settlement of Natal Cambridge University Press, 1950, p. 186 and E. Goetzsche 'RoURh but ready': an history the Natal Mounted Rifles [Durban, NMR, 197-], pp.3, 7, 9. 14. Samuel Beningfield (1802-74): auctioneer, law agent and horticulturist. He arrived in Natal in 1841 and was also imprisoned by the Boers in 1842. He and his wife had a family of 6 children by 1849. See S O'B. Spencer British settlers in Natal, v.2. 15. Probably loachirn Friedrich Kahts of Hamhurg who arrived in Durban in the 1830s, where from 1839 he acted as a shipping agent and later as German consul. He was married to Maria Elizabeth Susanna Scheepers. See D. F. Du T. Malherbe Familv register of'the South African nation, 3rd ed., Stellenbosch, Tegniek, 1966, and S. O'B. Spencer British settlers in Natal, v.4, p. 192. Thomas Green's Reminiscences (p. 18) rather puzzlingly refers to 'old Mr. Kahts'; yet by the early I 840s, 1. F. Kahts was barely 30 years old. 16. William Proudfoot (b. 1823), brother of lames (sec n.13 above), was a member of the 'hunting company' formed by the Hoggs and Elephant White in the late 1 840s. He had farmed on the turbulent Eastern Cape frontier before coming to Natal and taking up farming at CraiRic/Jurn, Riet Vlei. He was Captain of the Karkloof Troop of the Natal Carbineers and conducted a number of raids against the San. Hogg mentions hunting with him in 1848 and 1850 (sce pp. 25 and 28). 17. Spencer in British settlers in Natal, v. 4, p. 61 claims that lohn Pearson Cato (1831-1908), later a contractor and farmer, and his younger brother, Thomas Pearson Cato, were half-brothers (not nephews) to George Cato and that Thomas was in Natal by 1851. 18. Spencer believes that Captain George Anthony Durnford, who was in the 27th Regiment (lnniskilling Fusiliers) not the 45th Regimen!. could not have heen at Hogg's wedding. He had participated in the relief of the besieged Hritish force at Congella in 1842. The 27th Regiment apparently left Natal in 1845. D. R. Morris in The washinR of the spears London, Cape, 1966, p. 215 claims that he was uncle to the hetter known Anthony William Durnford (1830-1879) of the Royal Engineers who was killed at Isandlwana in 1879. See 1. C. Chase The Natal papers (Cape Town, Struik, 1968), p.225-8, and A.l. Cook 'British military, Part I: Irish in the British army in South Africa, 1795-1910' in Southern African-Irish studies 2 (1992), p.97 19. Spencer suggests that this may he the Isaak Cornelis lohannes Vermaak, baptised 1809, and married to Dorothea .Tohanna Laas, listed in Cilliers Genealogiee van die Afl'ikanerjamilies in Natal p. 621. 20. Wife of lames Alfred Rorke (1827-75) and another of Mrs Strydorn's daughters, Sara lohanna b. ca 1830. In 1849 the Rorkes were settled on a farm on the Buffalo River. Rorke hunted, traded and ran a ferry service at the Drift which was named after him. See G. A. Dominy 'Disputed territory: the Irish presence in the marchlands of the Zulu kingdom, 1838-1888' Southern African-Irish studies 2, 1992, pp: 215-6, and Cilliers Genealogiee van die Afrikaner families in Natal p. 589. 21. The elder Ogle, Henry, was one of the first white hunter-traders to come to Port Natal in 1824. After 1843 he settled near the Mkomazi River with a large African following. Spencer British settlers in Natal v. 2, p_ 60 refers to lohn Ogle, son of Henry, who was out of favour with 25 Pief Hogg '.I' Reminiscences Mpande in 1850 for having abducted a Zulu girl. In v, 6, p, 225 Spencer mentions that by 1857 John Ogle was living in Nomansland with an African following and was threatening to go to war with another mixed-blood chief. 22. Mpande kaSenzangakhona (1810-72), who became king in 1840, had his principal homestead at Nodwengu which lay between the White and Black Mfolozi Rivers, Hogg had met him for the first time in 1848 and had had an interview lasting about three hours (pp, 25 and 26-7). Hogg was always scrupulous in requesting permission to hunt and in informing the Zulu king of his movements (see also p. 29), In a Note on p, 41 he describes the formalities and postures to be assumed when approaching Zulu royally. A much underrated king, Mpande has recently been the subject of some rc-assessment. See p, Colenbrander 'The Zulu kingdom, 1828-79' in A, Duminy and W, Guest (eds) Natal and Zululandfrom earliest times to 1910, (Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1989), pp, 93-107 and J, Wright and R. Edgecombe 'Mpande kaSenzangakhona c, 179R-1872' in C Saunders (ed,) Black leaders in Southern African history London, Heinemann, 1979, 23, In a Nole on p,40, Hogg says: 'In addition to the tusk of ivory weighing 95lbs" King Mpanda presented me, at the same time, with five head of cattle.' 24, According to Shelagh Spencer, Waterbosch was owned by James Archbell (title issued lI1211852) so Hogg probably merely leased il. Either his memory was defective or he was embellishing the trulh, The Nonoti River lies between the Mvoti and Thukela Rivers, 25. Hans De Lange (Johannes Hendrikus de Lange, called popularly Hans Dons) visited Natal with the first wave of Voortrekkers in 1834, He was a well-known scout and elephant hunter. Delegorgue claimed that De Lange would sprinkle his ivory with sea-salt and water to increase its weight! See A, Delegorgue Travels in southern Africa v, I, (Durban, Killie Campbell Africana Library, 1990), pp, 82, 268, 278, and 340, and H, F. Fynn Diary (Pietcrmaritzburg, Shuter and Shooter, 1969), p,230, 26, David Divana or Veanna was a coloured man who was born in Stellenbosch, Earlier Hogg mentions having rescued Divana, his wife and child from a flooded Mngeni River in April 1848 (see pp,24-5) Further on Hogg incorrectly refers to Divana's death by a bull buffalo in 1857; in fact, Divana died on 7 September 1858, leaving his wife Lena Plaatjies and three children (Source: S, O'B, Spencer). It is interesting that Hogg makes no reference to Divana's colour, that he refers to him as 'Mr', and thal they appear to have been equal companions, 27, This may be the p, du Pre/Paul Dupre who signed a traders' memorial in December 1856 claiming loss of cattle in the Battle of Ndondakusuka between Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi, and who surfaces again in official documents regarding an incident in 1865 when he shot a fleeing Zulu refugee; he was then living on the Zulu side of tbe Thukela River (Source: S, O'B, Spencer), See also C. Ballard 'The role of trade and hunler-traders in Ihe political economy of Natal and Zululand, African economic history 10,1981, p,9, 28, William Adams (c, 1820-1916), trader and farmer, arrived in Natal in 1842, He also married a Strydom daughter, and in 1854 (the year they married) the couple went on a hunting and trading trip to the Zulu kingdom wilh the Hoggs and others; they were based in the Ngoye forest. See S. O'B, Spencer British se/llers in Natal v, I, p, 11. Adams and his wife are recorded as making articles for trade from animal hides, In the late 1850s Adams moved to the Thukela River and then to a farm near Helpmekaar - not far from his wife's sister Mrs lames Rorke (sce n, 20 above), 29, This may have been the son of Benjamin and Rose Marion Phillips (nee Whitecomb) who died in 185\ not 1853, 30, The Reverend H, p, S. Schreuder (1817-1882) of Ihe Lutheran Church established a mission station near the Mpangeni and MhlatllZe rivers in 1851, 31. See n.4 above, 32, See the Introduction for sceptical comments on all these statistics, 33, In September 1855 Francisco Sallcs Machado became governor at Delagoa Bay, It is not known if he was still in residence by 1858, 34, During Shab's rise to power a numher of northern Nguni groups were pushed northwards, One of these was led by Soshangane (or Manukosi) in the early 1820s, He established a vast empire in southern Mozambique of Gaza Nguni (also called Shangane), According to Harries, Manukosi died in 1858, the same year that Hogg records hearing about him, and in what happened subsequently Hogg continues to refer to Manukosi/Soshangane although the latter was succeeded by Mawewe, See p, Harries' Labour migration from Mozambique to South Africa, with special reference to the Delagoa Bay hinterland, c, 1862-1897' Ph,D thesis, SOAS, London, 1983, pp, 168-9. 35, Probably James Augustus Ross who arrived in Natal in 1849 with his wife and a servant. He owned the farm Bellair, Source: S, O'B, Spencer; see also British settlers in Natal v,6 pp, 15,181. 26 Piet Hogg's Reminiscences 36. This may have been another member of the numerous Strydom family. In a Note on p. 40 Hogg says that lohannes Strydom lived and hunted with him from 1852 to 1859, although this is the first mention of this individuaL 10hannes assisted H Jgg in his trading activities when the latter fell ill in 1860 while living in the Biggarsberg, wt::;.t to Grey town with the Hoggs, and finally died of fever while hunting in the St. Lucia Bay area. 37. Mswati waSobhuza's mother was Tsandzile (Kuthandile) Ndwandwe (ca 1806-ca 1875), also known as Nompethu. She has been called one of the most outstanding individuals in a long line of exceptional Swazi queen mothers. Mswati was only 14 years old when he inherited the kingship; Tsandzile emerged as the dominant regent who ensured Mswati's survivaL She had a very powerful personality and was a shrewd and capable administrator who earned enormous respect. Her principal homestead was Ludzidzini adjacent to the Mdzimba Range in central Swaziland. By 1852 Mswati had moved to the north and this may explain why Hogg approached the queen mother for assistance. See P. Bonner Kinfis, comm'(mers and cOl/cessionaires: the evolution and dissolution of the ninelernth century Swazi state (Johannesburg, Ravan, 1983), p. lOS and H. M. lones A biofiraphical refiister of Swaziland to 1902 (Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1993), pp.446-7. 38. In a Notc on pAD, Hogg says the following about this man: 'When leaving to hunt in 1859, I engaged an old country Portuguese named Vennune [n as clerk, who was onc of those killed by order of King Uslzushanggana'. 39. These anti-slavery sentiments may be considered specious given the active involvement of Soshangane's Gaza in the slave trade with the Portuguese through Oelagoa Bay from the 1820s, and later with the Transvaal Boers. Harries has estimated that at the peak of the trade in humans in the late I 1:120s and early 30s over I 000 slaves were exported annually through Oelagoa Bay. In 1829 the Portuguese had been trade and tribute allies with the Gaza but relations between them fluctuated; in 1856 for instance the Gaza attacked Lourenco Marques but signed a peace treaty the next year. In 1858 when Soshangane/Manukosi di