6

over to Government. He has now become more arbitrary, and very great dissatisfaction is expressed. Jan Bannies,'' Willem Brass,' and Speelman Kieviet' took their families to the Kei; but they. nevertheless, send men on commando to the colony. They have a great many cattle and horses, and merely went to the Kei to secure them. They have taken up their residence in a deep kloof, at the Kei, where the point of the Winterberg stretches into the Kei. It is not far from Butterworth; but, according to their accounts, higher up the river. They are at this side of the Kei. I was not there myself, but they have frequently described the place to me. Since Hans Brander left for the colony, Jan Bannies' has sent a patrol from the Kei, comprising twenty men, under Kieviet Jaager, to the Zuurberg, in the colony. They came to Uithaalder in their route, and had been four days coming from the Kei. They rested one day at Uithaalder's, and then proceeded to the colony, and had not returned when I left. Formerly Uithaalder appointed twelve Heemraden, and I was their head; but, since my dismissal, he abolished these appointments, for some reason; and now Frederick Hendrick and Uithaalder settle all complaints themselves. Frederick Jack was one of the Heemraden. The Kafirs will not fight any more. I have heard them say so. Macomo's Kafirs are quite dispirited, and their ammunition expended. Uithaalder has frequently asked Macomo and Sandilli to assist him with Kafirs; but they have refused, saying, the time is yet to come when we will fight, but at present they will sit still. Sandilli's Kafirs have tilled some land the other side of the Amatola. The corn is up. They have sown a great quantity. The Hottentots have always got their gunpowder from the friendly Kafirs, near King William's Town. Uithaalder got Sandilli's Kafirs to take cattle, and exchange with them for powder. I have seen them return with packages of cartridges and loose powder. I do not know the names of the friendly Kafir chiefs whose people exchange the powder. Shortly before Hans Brander left on the last expedition to the colony, I saw him send two head of cattle, and Uithaalder, also, two head of cattle, to the friendly Kafirs for gunpowder. These were a portion of the cattle they had taken from Fort Hare. The Kafirs remained a week away, during which time Hans Brander left for the colony. The Kafirs brought back fifty packages for these four head of cattle. each packet containing ten rounds; they brought no loose powder this time. The friendly Kafirs have supplied the Hottentots the whole war with powder. I heard that some Kafirs were in the levies, at King William's Town. Had it not been for the powder

we got from the friendly Kafirs, the war would have long been settled. We find greater difficulty in getting powder now, because the patrols are not so successful in taking cattle from the colony, and without cattle we cannot procure powder. Some short time ago, Stephanus Smit went with eighty-two men to Fort Beaufort, to steal cattle, thirty of whom were on foot, the rest were mounted. The third day, August Philis, who is brother to Stephanus Smit, came home with the commando, saying that my son-in-law, October Flux, had been flogged with a stirrup-leather at the Mancazana, and he had gone to Fort Beaufort, and brought a colonial patrol on them, in the poort where Mr. Calderwood formerly had a school, and four of their men were killed, and nine wounded. The following are the names of the killed:-Frans Laager, Cornelis Swart, Piet Jaager, and Jacob Prins. The following are the names of the wounded-Jan O'Reilly, Klaas Abraham, O'Rie Wildschut, Jan de Klerk, Piet Piet, Jacobus Hendrik, Jontje de Vries, Jan Klaas, and Jan Cornelis. The latter died the following day. Six of the wounded cannot stand; they are wounded in the body, and must die; three had begun already to swell up when I left. August Philis hid the brown stallion which Stephanus Smit rode, and which he had taken from James's; also the white mare had been shot dead. They then proceeded to Balfour, to waylay the cattle which were going from Eland's River to James's place, and they had succeeded in getting them; but the people in charge of the cattle had shot Stephanus Smit dead. That August Philis then went off with the cattle; but the levies at Eland's River recaptured them at the Chumie, killing Klaas, a Gonah. Upon August Philis reporting the loss he had sustained at Fort Beaufort, Uithaalder said I was the cause there, because Flux October, who had brought the patrol, was my son-in-law, and who slept and lived with me, and therefore I must have been cognisant of it. I denied all knowledge of the act, but Uithaalder still accused me, and said he should reckon off with me some day. My son Nathaniel told me that Uithaalder had said he would shoot me, and recommended my leaving. I left that night, bringing my child Cupido with me, telling him I was going to Graham's Town to search for honey, and sell it in Graham's Town for clothing. We came along the high road from Breakfast Vley to Committee's Drift, at the Fish River, where the old post has been burnt off. I thought the post was still there, and intended surrendering myself; but, finding it burnt down, I came up the kloofs, along the Braak River, and arrived close to Graham's Town the fourth day. I intended going into the Cowie Bush to get some

Q

honey, as I had remembered finding a bee's nest in a krantz, many years ago; and I passed through the town, and was proceeding to Woest's Hill, when I was apprehended near some waggons, and taken to the gaol. I had only left Uithaalder four days when I was apprehended. Uithaalder's camp was then in the Amatola, near a great krantz. He had sent all his cattle and horses away to Jan Bannies, at the Kei. After August Philis had returned from Beaufort, and reported the death of Stephanus Smit, he sent his stock away. He had some cattle under Sandilli's charge, and he intended to get them, and then trek to the Kei to Jan Bannies. I never heard that Uithaalder was indebted to Macomo's Kafirs for gunpowder or the hire of guns. The Hottentots hire guns from both Macomo's and Sandilli's Kafirs to go on commando, for which they pay a calf; but if the party is killed in action, and the gun thus lost, there is no charge made. The Kafirs hold the Hottentot leaders answerable for the payment of the hire of the guns. Before the war broke out, I never heard of such a rumour. I never heard the reason assigned by any of the Hottentots for their joining the war-party. I had no particular reason. I received my pension regularly, and without difficulty. I admit I am very guilty. I have found, to my cost, the ruinous result of my misconduct. Before the war, I possessed a place and stock, and in comfortable circumstances; and now I am naked, half-starved, and penniless, and I thank the people for appre hending me, otherwise I should still have been in the bush. I could have remained with the Government party at the Eland's River, under Forie, if I liked; but I followed my four sons to the Amatola, where I was nominated magistrate. Uithaalder had all the men called together. The book in which the code of laws was written was handed over to me, and then I made a solemn promise, in the presence of the men, that I would administer the laws according to that book, and Uithaalder publicly announced my appointment, and the men promised obedience to me. Frederick Hendrick was the adjutant, and he made the men fall in, and then I used to tell off the number that were to go on commando. I think Uithaalder had about 300 men with him when I left, exclusive of those who had gone to the Kei, and those absent on commando. Uithaalder is very short of ammunition. I was at Jan Cornelis's camp, at the Thorn Kloof, this side of the Kei, when Hans Brander left for the colony; and while at Jan Cornelis's camp, Tilman Marthinus returned there, with a commando, and said Jan Cornelis had been shot the day before. Tilman Marthinus has succeeded Jan Cornelis. When I left the Amatola, he was still at the Kei. They have erected huts

there, and have a good many cattle and horses there. It was reported that, when Uithaalder joined them, they would all establish themselves in the Deep Kloof, where Jan Bannies has taken up his residence. I was the first magistrate appointed.

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(Signed) · Mark of JOHANNES FORTUIN."

"Before me,

(Signed) "JOHN CAMPBELL, Justice of the Peace."

C.

PROCLAMATION by His Excellency Lieutenant-General the Hon. GEO. CATHCART, Governor and Commander-inChief of the Settlement of the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, and of the Territories and Dependencies thereof, and Ordinary and Vice-Admiral of the same; and Her Majesty's High Commissioner for the settling and adjustment of the Affairs of the Territories in South Africa, adjacent and contiguous to the Eastern and North-eastern Frontier of the said Colony, &c. &c. &c.

Whereas the Kafir Chief Kreili, who resides beyond the Kei, and whose territory is separated from that part of Her Majesty's dominions called British Kaffraria, by that river, although recently chastised for his well-known underhand, as well as open, hostility, by order of Governor Sir Harry Smith, has not ceased, from the time the expedition was withdrawn, contumaciously to comfort and assist Her Majesty's rebellious subjects, now associated with the rebel Chief Sandilli, Kafirs as well as Hottentots, in carrying on a protracted war, and even to harbour rebel Hottentots in his own country:

And whereas the said contumacious Chief Kreili, when mercifully called upon by me to desist from his evil practices, and use his well-known influence in putting an end to the Gaika rebellion, and, in token of his good faith and due submission, to pay up the fine of cattle imposed by my predecessor, Governor Sir H. Smith, which the said chief had promised to pay,

and on the faith of which promise the last expedition was mercifully withdrawn after the infliction of half the punishment deserved, has insolently sent back my peaceable remonstrance, and just demand, in defiance:

And whereas it is necessary, in vindication of Her Majesty's authority, and in order to put an end to this war, that the said Chief Kreili should, without loss of time, receive the full chastisement he deserves:

Now, therefore, I do hereby proclaim, declare, and make known, that, for the purpose of inflicting such chastisement, it is my intention, on the 6th day of August next, to assemble a sufficient force of Her Majesty's regular troops, cavalry, infantry, and artillery, paid levies, and enrolled Fingoes, with abundant supplies for the campaign, on the Umvani River, near Bram Neck, midway between Shiloh and the White Kei: -and that it is further my intention with this force to cross the Kei, and establish my head-quarters at Kreili's great place. But, wishing to show to Her Majesty's enemies that, besides the force of her regular armies, she possesses the loyal support of her faithful subjects, and that, at her call, they are ready and willing to take the field in her cause:

Wishing, also, to give to those who, as a body, have suffered severely from the war, an opportunity of recovering, by force of arms, some compensation for their losses,-I hereby, in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, command all burghers of the divisions of Graaff-Reinet, Uitenhage, Port Elizabeth, Somerset, Cradock, Albany, Albert, Victoria, Fort Beaufort, and Colesberg, capable of bearing arms, to take the field, upon the old commando system of the colony, and join me on the Umvani River, near Bram Neck, midway between Shiloh and the White Kei, on the 6th August, from whence I will lead them forthwith, in person, into the country of the contumacious Chief Kreili, to despoil him of his cattle, as the best means of effectually bringing him to submission, and thereby terminating the present tiresome hostilities.