THE NATAL SOCIETY OFFICE BEARERS, 1979-1980

President Cr Miss P.A. Reid

Vice-Presidents M.l.C. Daly, Esq.
A.e. Mitchell, Esq.
Dr 1. Clark
S.N. Roberts, Esq.

Trustees A.e. Mitchell, Esq.

Dr R.E. Stevenson
M.l.e. Daly, Esq.

Treasurers Messrs Dix, Boyes & Co.

Auditors Messrs Thornton-Dibb, van der
Leeuw & Partners
Chief Librarian A.S.e. Hooper (resigned May 1980)

Mrs S.S. Wallis (appointed August 1980)

Secretary P.C.G. McKenzie

COUNCIL

Elected Members er Miss P.A. Reid (Chairman)

S.N. Roberts, Esq. (Vice-Chairman)
Dr F.e. Friedlander
R. Owen. Esq.
W.G. Anderson, Esq.
F.l.H. Martin. Esq .. M.E.e.
A.D.S. Rose, Esq.
R.S. Steyn. Esq.
1.M. Sellers, Esq.
A. Mostert, Esq. (resigned)
M.l.e. Daly, Esq. (co-opted)

City Council Representatives Cr A. F. Tan

Cr H.D. Browne
er H. Lundie
er e.W. Wood

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF NATALIA

Editor 1.M. Sellers, Esq.

1.M. Deane, Esq.
T.B. Frost. Esq.
W.R. Guest, Esq.

Miss M.P. Moberly

Mrs S.P.M. Spencer

Miss 1. Faner (Hon. Sec.)

Natalia 10 (1980) Copyright © Natal Society Foundation 2010

 Cover Picture
Natal Government Railways passenger carriage, 1878.
(Seating capacity: 24 Tare: 5 tons)

Photograph: Local History Museum, Durban.

Copies of. this number and back numbers of Nalalia, except No. 1 (1971) a.nd No.
S (1978), are obtainable at R3,00 per copy from The Chief Librarian, Natal
Society Public Library, P.O. Box 415, Pietermaritzburg, 3200.

SA ISSN 0085 3674

Printed by The Natal Witness (Ply) Lld

 Contents

Page
EDITORIAL 'i

REPRINT
On a Tough Missionary Post in Zululand
Part II
Edited by Charles Ballard
Translated by Helen Feist . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

ARTICLE
The Battle of lvuna (or Ndunu Hill)
1. P. C. Laband . . . . . . ..... 16

ARTICLE
The Voortrekker Dorps of Natal - R.F. Haswell 2J

ARTICLE
The Opening of the Rililway hetween Durhan and
Pietermaritzburg - 100 years ago
B. Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34

ARTICLE
The Special Collections of the Natal Societv
Library-A.S.C. Ho(;per. . . . . . . . . . . 41

OBITUARIES
R.A. Banks. 4'1
F.N. Broome . 47
A. Petrie . . . . 41\

NOTES AND QUERIES

M. P. Moherly 'i I

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES 64

register of research on natal

1. Farrer . . . . 77

SELECI LIST OF RECENT NATAL PUBLICATIONS

1. Farrer 78

NOTES ON CON IRIBUIORS 79

 Editorial

Readers will have noticed thaL with this number. Nl1tl1lia has reached 'I·
tenth milestone. We should. therefore, like to pay tribute to all those \\ 11\'
have assisted in keeping this project going successfully during thc last dv
cade. I n particular. we are grateful to the many people who have C(llltl,'"
uted articles. These have covered a wide range of topics and have, wc h()l'l
led to the realisation of the aims of the original promoters of Nata/"T 11
1971, who set out their policy in the following words:
"It will publish articles in, roughly. five categories: environmcnt:l i .
pre-historical, historical, contemporary and cultural. It will also scn~'
as a directory of information and current research. and about SOCicll'. '.
organizations and individuals actively interested in the preservati() "
Natal's heritage and in the study of its physicaL natural and hlll,' 1
resources.
Since its early beginnings, the reputation of Notalia has spread beyond t 11"
limits of this City and Province to South Africa as a whole, and even be V()l1lf
its horders to countries overseas. For example, in the United States 1.1
America, the American Historical Association, in its issue of RecclIIl
Published Articles (Vol. 4 No. 3 October 1979, pp. R2-3) has, in the sectioJ1
entitled South Africa. specific details of articles published in Nl1talia N()~ -,
and 8.
The range of articles included in this number is very great. the idea being
to cater for the interests of a wide variety of readers. We have highlighted
the centenary of the opening of the first railway link between Durhan and
Pietennaritzhurg because we feel that, as this event was such a great land
mark in Natal's economic history, it should be fittingly commemorated ill
Nalalia. This railway line, which ultimately reached the Transvaal border ill
1891, was to prove increasingly important after the discovery of gold on the
Witwatersrand in 1886. It is also appropriate to reflect on the fact that the
railway line provided Natal with its only reliable communication link with
the interior until the construction of thc National Road network which was
started towards the end of the 1930s.
For the second consccutive year thc Natal Socicty has sponsored what is
officially known as '"The Natal Society Annual Lecture". On 13th June this
lecture was given by Mr Robert F. Haswell, Senior Lecturer in Geograph\
at the University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg). It was entitled '"Pietermaritz­
burg - a Voortrekker Dorp", and it was listened to by a most appreciativl'
audience who filled the Library Auditorium to capacity. Wc are grateful to
Mr Haswell for rc-organising and supplementing the material of his lecturt
in order to produce an article, which has been included in this number.
Natal has suffered the loss of three of her most celebrated citizens during
the course of the year, and tributes are paid to them in this issue of Natalia.
We are grateful to the Judge-President of Natal, Mr Justice Neville James,
for his article on the late Mr Justice F.N. Broome, a former Judge-President
of the Natal Supreme Court. The present Director of Education, Or G .A.
Hosking, has kindly written about the late Or R.A. Banks. We felt that it
would be fitting for a fellow Scot to write the tribute to the late Professor
Alexander Petrie, and Or John Clark, a former Editor of Natalia, readily
agreed to do this.
At the end of May, Mr A.S.C. Hooper relinquished the post of Chief Li­
brarian in order to assume duty as the University Librarian at the University
of Cape Town. During the time that he was Chief Librarian he worked en­
thusiastically and imaginatively to consolidate and to build on the work of
his predecessors. Soon after his appointment he had to face the challenge of
moving the Library from the old building in Longmarket Street (now the
PADCA Centre) to the new one on Churchill Square - an operation that
was carried out efficiently and expeditiously. We are particularly grateful to
him for the interest that he showed in Natalia, and for the way in which he
gave encouragement and help to the Editor and members of the Editorial
Committee. He took a personal interest in the planning and progress of each
issue. We feel that it is fitting. therefore, that an article written by him
should be included in this edition. It deals with the Special Collections in the
Library ~~nd it reflects the basic aim of his policy as Chief Librarian, which
was to make information about the Library'S bibliographical treasures and
resources as widely known as possible.
Having paid tribute to the work of the former Chief Librarian, we should
like to welcome Mrs S.S. Wallis who assumed duty as the new Chief Librar­
ian on 1st August. Mrs Wallis was formerly on the staff of the Johannesburg
Public Library where she was engaged in developing a number of specialist
projects, the most important being the building up of the Music Library
when she was in charge of that section. In addition to her professional quali­
fication, Mrs Wallis holds the B.Mus. and M.A. degrees. In the wider
sphere of library work, she has played an active role in the affairs of her lo­
cal branch of the South African Institute for Librarianship and Information
Science. Mrs Wallis is deeply conscious of the role that the Natal Society
Library can play in the lives of the people of Pietermaritzburg, and we wish
her every success in her new post.
At the beginning of the Editorial, reference was made to the fact that this
is the tenth issue. Thus it is fitting to conclude with a comment as Natalia
enters its second decade. May it continue to play a significant role in the in­
tellectual life of this community who support it, and in that of the wider
world. May it continue to be a journal which the President and Members of
the Council of the Natal Society are proud to sponsor.
FLOREAT NATAL/A!
JOHN M. SELLERS
 7

On a Tough Missionary Post

in Zululand

PART II

The Life Experiences of the Missionary

Friedrich Volker according to the notes of
his wife
HERMANNSBURG 1928

Edited by Charles Ballard

Translated by Helen Feist

SYNOPSIS
The life of the German missionary, the Reverend Friedrich Volker, in nine­
teeth century Zululand has been portrayed by his wife as one of great trial
and tragedy. Part T which appeared in the 1979 edition of Natalia was
concerned with Volker's arrival in Natal in 1858 and his subsequent estab­
lishment of Emlalazi Mission-station in southern Zululand in 1860.
Volker's writings expressed much the same sentiment on Zulu society and
political life as the majority of German, Norwegian and English mission­
aries. Like many of his colonial Victorian contemporaries, Volker felt
strongly that the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, and members of the ruling class
placed social and economic restrictions in the paths of those Zulu who de­
sired to become Christians. More importantly, the king and the ruling class
of chiefs and royal princes wanted to prevent mission-stations from becom­
ing centres of sanctuary for Zulu who had committed crimes, who had been
rebellious and who rejected established Zulu customs in preference for
those practised by Europeans.
With the approach of the Anglo-Zulu War, 1879, Volker and many Zulu­
land missionaries despaired at having to leave their homes and the work
which they had been doing for almost twenty years. But Volker was not
opposed to the war on principle as was Bishop Colenso; instead he saw in a
military solution the means of toppling King Cetshwayo and the traditional
ruling class that hampered missionary endeavour.
Ironically, the defeat of the Zulu by Britain did not "open up" Zululand
to unrestricted missionary activity. Sir Garnet Wolseley's Ulundi Settlement
of 1879 reflected little sympathy for the expansion and protection of mis­
8 On a Tough Missionary Post

sionary interests. Wolseley had, in keeping with Colonial Office policy,

devolved political and economic power to thirteen puppet chiefs - some of
whom were extreme in their anti-missionary bias. Volker was forbidden to
re-occupy Emlalazi by the District Chief, John Dunn. The Natal Colonist
commented on this strange twist in missionary fortunes:
Instead of the 'missionary borne back on the wave of conquest' which
they invoked, they find themselves stranded, shut out from the very
spots they voluntarily relinquished in hopes of speedily re-occupying
freed from such checks and trammels as have hitherto hampered
them.l
In August 1881 Volker and his family moved to northern Zululand and es­
tablished themselves at Ekuhlengeni. Part II focuses on Volker's last years
of mission work in post-war Zululand. However, Volker did not find the
peace and political stability that he now so desperately wanted in order to
carry on his evangelical work. He had the misfortune of running a mission­
station that was located squarely in the war zone during the destructive Zulu
Civil War of 1883-84. The anxiety, fear and grief which Volker and his fam­
ily experienced is given full expression in this concluding section.
CHARLES BALLARD

PART 11
In Northern Zululand
As dear Brother Volker realised the impossibility of returning from Sink­
wazi to Emlalazi, the Superintendent gave the order in August of the year
1880 to rebuild Ekuhlengeni (i.e. the salvation) in Northern Zululand,
which had been destroyed during the war. The mission was then suffering
from a great shortage of funds, the salary of the missionaries had been re­
duced and Volker had to see to it that he could manage without special
help, but together with his family he was looking forward to going to such a
nice station and he was thankful to God in his heart that he could once again
embark on a full programme of missionary work.
After having made the necessary purchases in Durban for the construction
of the station, he departed from Sinkwazi on the 11th September, \880, ac­
companied by his eldest son, Johannes. The road led via Eshowe and Kwa­
magwaza (where the English missionary Robertson had resumed his activ­
ity) throughout Zululand. On the 28th of the month they arrived at Brother
Stallbom's at Bethel. Here they were met by the missionary Schroder, who
had recently arrived from Germany, in order to accompany them to Ekuh­
lengeni, where they arrived on the following day.
As expected they found the whole station, which had been built by
Brother Wagner and afterwards tended by him, completely destroyed by the
war. The buildings were burnt down, the fire also having spread through the
banana plantation. Many trees were felled and the water supply wrecked.
Some of the walls, especially of the living quarters, were reasonably intact.
After all that Volker had gone through, his heart was filled with much glad­
ness that he could take up his vocation once again. He therefore looked to

1 Natal Colonist, 28 Oct. 1879.

On II Tough Missionary Post 9

the future with confidence and spared neither trouble nor expense to put the
station to rights once more. To start with. the permission of the local ruler,
Zulu Chief Ugcinwayo. had to be obtained and the British resident Osborn
had to be notified. This was done during the next few days, and after some
difficulties had been overcome. friendly advice and permission were ob­
tained. Volker returned to Sinkwazi to fetch his family and the rest of his
belongings, after having covered the ruin of the old waggon house with cor­
rugated iron held in place by large stones, thus establishing a temporary
lodging.
He was advised to avoid the difficult route through Zululand and to re­
turn via Hermannsburg and Greytown and through the thorn country in Na­
tal via Helpmekaar. His son 10hannes stayed behind with the missionary
Schrbder on the station Ekuhlengeni. From Sinkwazi Volker, with his wife
and a few children, first had to go to Durban again to buy provisions for
house and family including seed potatoes, seeds and whatever else was miss­
ing. They were given a friendly reception by the family of the missionary
Flygare, whose wife was a relative of Volker's wife. Flygare had resigned
from the Hermannsburg Mission and had found employment with the Swed­
ish Mission. After all the essentials had been obtained, they returned to
Sinkwazi in order to set out as soon as possible for Northern Zululand.
With the start of the rainy season, the unfavourable weather made the
journey very difficult and time-consuming. The Volkers travelled in a cov­
ered waggon with a span of fourteen oxen. followed by two goods waggons.
At the beginning of December they arrived at the Swedish Mission Station
Oskarsberg. where they were received very warmly. Before they departed
on the next day, they still visited the local cemetery where the Britons who
had fallen during the Zulu War had found their last rest. The graves were
temporarily provided with small black wooden crosses, on each of which
hung a wreath of white everlasting flowers. with a red satin bow. with which
the Empress Eugenie of France had had the graves decorated on her recent
visit to the resting-place of her son.
On the following morning they crossed the Buffalo River and the next day
reached our station Bethel. where the brother and sister Stallbom were
pleased about the visit. At two o'clock in the afternoon Brother Volker had
the oxen inspanned again. It was hoped to reach Ekuhlengeni before sunset.
However at the next river the goods waggons stuck fast, and it was only af­
ter some hours that the poor oxen with lashes of the whip and great commo­
tion, could be brought to drag the waggons out of the mud. Finally, it be­
came so dark that someone had to walk ahead with a lantern to find the
waggon trails which sometimes showed the way past precipices. Thus at
eleven o'clock at night they finally arrived at their future home, where mis­
sionary Schroder and 10hannes Volker were sleeping deeply and only awoke
after loud whip cracking; they had bedded down in an old calf stable.
The whole family settled down to sleep, the grown-up daughters in a part
of the waggon-house which was already equipped with a door and windows.
the parents and the little ones in the former stable, where the holes in the
walls were covered with sacks and the entrance with ox-hide. Thus all slept
soundly after the long journey and rose early to view their new world. which
they found enchanting. especially the rivulet (here called Schlote) ,
As all kinds,of seeds had been sent ahead. they found there was already a
10 On a Tough Missionary Post

pretty little garden full of vegetables, which had been started by the young
missionary Schroder and which he had planted with circumspection and
good taste, surrounding it with a hedge of sunflowers.
The small congregation of Christians who had fled from Emlalazi with
Brother Volker had settled with other missionaries in Natal, since Burpham
was not a good place to live. Only a very few, who were still in the
christening instruction classes, accompanied him to Ekuhlengeni. However,
soon the faithful Petrus Quabe arrived with his family from Emlalazi, fol­
lowed later by his brother-in-law Matthaus Mtembu. The heathen living in
the vicinity of Ekuhlengeni showed themselves friendly towards the mission­
ary family, even if they only came hesitantly to work and very gradually to
instruction.
A lot of building now had to be done. By Easter 1881 the living quarters
were habitable. To the delight of Volker some youngsters and an old granny
and her daughter also reported for Christian instruction. Schroder in the
meantime studied the language and held morning prayers for our people un­
til after some time he asked Ham [in the nineteenth century Europeans
spelled Hamu in several variations - Uhamu, Uhama and Ham C.B.] the
brother of Cetshwayo, for a plot where he could set up a new station, and
this was granted him.lO So he took leave of Volker and moved into the vicin­
ity of Hlobane, between Zululand and the territory of the Transvaal. He re­
visited Ekuhlengeni only once, after that the Volkers did not see him again,
for during the Second Zulu War, which soon broke out, he was cruelly mur­
dered by a Black named Mapele. He was faithful unto death and he there­
fore also gained the unfading crown of honour as a martyr and witness to
Christ.

The Ravages of the Second Zulu War

New unrest had broken out when the 13 chiefs or small kings appointed by·

Sir Garnet Wolseley skirmished and warred among themselves. While

Cetshwayo as a prisoner paid a visit to England, messengers continually pro­

ceeded to Maritzburg to ask for his reinstatement as king. The requests of

the Zulus were supported by the party of Bishop Colenso. As a result

England relented, Cetshwayo returned and on 29th January 1883 he was in­

stalled as king by Sir Theophilus Shepstone in the presence of 3 000 Zulus.

As the whole of the land was, however, not restored to him, he was dis­
satisfied, especially because the son of Mapita, Usibepu, his former subject
and one of the 13 chiefs, retained a small area in the North East and he re­
garded him with particular suspicion. Cetshwayo therefore sent messengers
to Usibepu and let him know that he was to return the cattle which he had
appropriated during the absence of the king. Usibepu's answer was: "Come
and get them with an impi" (armed group). Thus war broke out and the stay
in Northern Zululand was almost more dangerous than during the First Zulu
War.
Volker lived among the Usutu, the king's party, when they fought the first
battle with Ham's men, who had combined with Usibepu and his people.
The Usutu were beaten and returned in disorderly flight.
Many wounded came to the station and had to be bandaged, the others
looked for a hiding place in the vicinity; old women who could not keep up
any more were left at the station. Other women came daily from their hiding
On a Tough Missionary Post II

places and asked for provisions with milk if possible for their small children.
No one could or would refuse all these poor people. As a result, however.
Volker was seen by Ham's people as an adversary, although he maintained
the strictest neutrality and only aided those in need.
One evening when Volker held a service and an instruction class in the
church, three messengers from Brother Stallbom came riding up to the
house and brought the shocking news of the murder of Brother Schroder.
One can imagine the pain and sorrow with which all were affected. How
many of the following nights were spent in fear and horror! There was conti­
nual speculation as to how it might have happened and what the poor
Brother must have suffered. "Yes, eternity ~ill disclose it", Volker used to
say, but all must be prepared, day and night, against the possibility of sud­
den attack.
The news that Cetshwayo had been beaten and that the enemy army was
approaching was given to Volker in the middle of the night by fleeing
Usutus. It was too late to fly, as even Petrus Quabe admitted. So everyone
commended their affairs to the Lord and expected in God's name the arrival
of Ham and Usibepu's people. Great clouds of smoke already heralded their
approach as they burned down everything before them, grass, huts and
kraals. The small band of Christian ones, especially women and children,
old grannies and old men, fled into the living quarters; some, having rested
awhile, tried to make their way across the border. The black masses could
be seen approaching like a tide, ever nearer through the valley of the Black
Umfolosi. Midday had approached and Brother Volker, accompanied by
Petrus, Phillipus, Moses and Kleophas, went to meet them in a composed
manner in order to receive them at the entrance to the station and to sav a
few polite words to the indunas (leaders). His people in the house w~re
seized with fear and took refuge beneath the verandah, the mother with the
four youngest children (the other children were safe at school in Hermanns­
burg). Only the eldest son 10hannes kept guard behind the house. All knew
that the first reception would decide their fate and fervent prayers and sighs
went up to Heaven from their hearts that almighty and merciful God would
help and save them in their great need. In a few minutes the whole family
was surrounded. More than 1 000 of Ham's and Usibepu's men encircled the
house while Volker himself was still negotiating with the indunas. Out of
fear Mrs Volker and her children greeted the crowds surrounding them as
amicably and obligingly as possible. The reply was: "We have killed the
Usutu, give us matches so that we can also burn their houses and kraals."
Then they became insistent and started making demands. With bloodthirsty
eyes, their hands full of glistening assegais, they called for blankets, sugar,
soap and so on.
Brother Volker gave the indunas nearly all his coats and other possessions
to gain their goodwill because without their orders and against their wishes
nobody was allowed to plunder and murder. Most of them were already
laden with all kinds of things which they had robbed from Cetshwayo's
people. Furthermore, they had many women and small children and girls
with them whom they had captured and gagged and bound because accord­
ing to their instructions, they were only allowed to kill men, youths and
boys. All the prisoners stood trembling and shaking like a herd of sheep un­
der the trees.
12 On a Tough Missionary Post

Finally, shortly before sunset, after terrible pressure and afflictions and
after they had finally taken hold of everything they could lay their hands on,
even the washing from the bathtub, the whole army moved across the river.
But as the life and health of all had been so graciously spared, Volker and
his people could only praise and thank the Lord for saving them in their dire
need.
Now when all thought that the last of the enemies had departed, an old
woman emerged from the banana plantation where she had hidden. At that
moment a wild Zulu warrior dashed from the other side towards her, swing­
ing his spear and calling: "Ha! shall I stab her now'? Shall I kill her'?" But
Johannes Volker stood with his mother in front of the kitchen door.
Whether he remembered the fable of the Wolf and the Fox at this moment,
or for whatever reason, the quickwitted and brave Johannes called out to
the savage: "Au, if you stab her, you cannot boast to have killed a person;
she is hardly a person any more." And behold, the wild warrior stopped as
if thunderstruck. jumped once more into the air and was off. But unfortu­
nately with the defeat of Cetshwayo the war did not come to an cnd: instead
the insecurity increased continuously, the King a fugitive in his own country
and the people split up into marauding bands. On 22nd September 1883 the
station was again attacked by a detachment of Ham's people. Since their
wild war cries: .. Wafshctsha wilfshctsha izulu" could already be heard from
afar. a number of men, women and children fled before them into Volker's
house. They fired at the fugitives but did not hit them. Roaring, they sur­
rounded the house and demanded that those in hiding be handed over. To
comply would have meant the certain death of these poor wretches. They
had crept trembling into all the nooks under the tables and the beds. When
Volker refused to hand them over, they threatened him, stabbed to death
his dog, which had barked at them, and drove away his cattle and those of
the heathen Christians. As it started to get dark, however. they released
them again and camped for the night in the vicinity of the station. Before
dawn the inhabitants of the house were awakened by their shouting. They
hit with sticks against the window panes, crying: "Kipa abanfu: kipa abarlfu"
("Bring out the people!") When they did not get their will, they drove away
all the cattle. but returned some of them later when Johannes Volker. to­
gether with several heathen Christians, made representations to Ham.
Daily it was hoped that England would intervene to restore peace and
order in this part of Zululand, but that was a vain hope, because everything
was in a state of chaos. Even Mapela, the murderer of Brother Schroder,
was allowed to rove up and down the country with his bands. One day he
came to Ekuhlengeni on horseback with mounted and armed followers and
addressed Johannes Volker with the words: "Do you know who I am'?" He
answered: "Yes, T see you are Mapela". Not having expected to be recog­
nised, he asked somewhat disconcertedly for food. He came another time
when Father Volker was also present and asked for bread. It was terrible to
see this person and to have to hand food to him willy-nilly; but it was con­
sidered the lesser evil. as any use of force on the part of the Volkers would
have been their undoing.
Missionary Weber at Emyati had approached the Governor of Natal in
writing and asked that steps be taken for the punishment of the murderer of
On a Tough Missionary Post 13

Schroder and for the security of the rest of the missions; but the petition was
refused on the grounds that this did not concern Natal.
All our missionaries had also sent a petition to the German Government
in connection with Schroder. The reply was: "Detailed enquiries had been
made in respect of Schroder's background and of all circumstances concern­
ing him and they had been officially informed that Schroder and all mission­
aries who left Germany together with him had excluded themselves from the
community of German subjects and that this matter could therefore not be
taken in hand."
This proved again that human help is of no avail. Volker tried to the ut­
most to hold out on the station which had only just been newly built in order
to preserve it from destruction, but it was all in vain, because the confusion
and distress increased from day to day. On a Sunday after the service, Vol­
ker had already packed the most necessary effects and food into bundles and
the heathen (i.e. converted) Christians had offered to carry these as far as
Natal. As evening approached, they became increasingly reluctant to go on
their way and the Lord influenced them in their hearts to unpack again and
stay put. After a few days it was decided that the mother and children
should travel to Hermannsburg to good friends in Natal on the waggon and
with the oxen, which they had got back from Ham's people, while Volker
himself, with the eldest sons, still wanted to stay on. And so it came to pass.
Yet on the return journey Mrs Volker heard that they all had to leave
Ekuhlengeni. ll She now hurried back and when one day they outspanned at
the Buffalo River, the Swedish missionaries P. Witt and Friestadt,12 knowing
what went on in Zululand, came and offered her spacious quarters in Fort
MelvilI near to the new house at Oskarsberg. Mrs Volker preferred to move
on first to Emfunyane where she met her dear ones and also brother and sis­
ter Stallbom. This was a sad and yet happy reunion, for God's hand had pre­
served them, body and soul, from harm. From Emfunyane, where they all
had to camp out in the open, they moved back again to Fort MelvilL near
the Buffalo River, which they had to cross. They were kindly welcomed by
the English Bishop Douglas MacKenzie whose station was in the vicinity.
He saw the waggon full of children, as well as black women and children
carrying their bundles in front and behind the waggons. After some days he
came with his wife to the place of refuge, Fort Melvill, enquired after all and
sundry and helped the Volkers as best he could.
In the meantime a number of Boers, who had also been joined by some
Germans and Englishmen, had seized on the idea of occupying the land of
the Usutu. They offered Prince Dinizulu, the son of Cetshwayo, their help
against Ham and Usibepu, in exchange for which he was to give each one of
them a free farm. Dinizulu agreed, and after the Boers had pronounced and
anointed him King, the fight against Ham and Usibepu started. Soon one
could read in the English newspaper: "The Boers opened such an infernal
fire, that Usibepu's people could not stand it." For the Boers were all excel­
lent shots and the Zulus scattered in all directions. The Boers occupied the
whole district and founded a new republic. England calmly acquiesced in the
certain expectation that "our time is still coming". Later Dinizulu was ac­
cused of high treason and banished to St. Helena in 1889; however, he was
brought back and assumed the rank of a Zulu King under English super­
vision until his death.
14 On a Tough Missionary Post

It was however above all a gracious dispensation of God's Providence that

the Boer Commando had once again re-established peace and order, even if
it had to be deplored that during these troubled times our station Ekuhleng­
eni was totally destroyed for the second time. As fire was the main cause
one could not be sure whether the fire had been caused by the carelessness
of the Boers who had camped in the house, or deliberately by vengeful hea­
then.
The blessed Th. Harms at that time wrote in his mission paper 1884, p.
195 f.: "We have here no permanent abode, but we seek the future one. It
was this word of Holy Scripture which our missionaries in Zululand had to
experience to the full. Already once all our stations in Zululand had burned
down and our missionaries had barely escaped with their lives. After the end
of the (first) war, they returned again to Northern Zululand, rebuilt their
stations with much effort and diligence, began again to collect the dispersed
little band of Christians and to bring the Word of God to the heathen and
now they have once again had to leave everything behind. Missionary Volk­
er's station is totally destroyed, all buildings burnt down and all the utensils
of the house, which could not be saved, have been smashed. The fields of
the missionaries and of the Christians, planted in high hopes, are deva­
stated. In the meantime the conditions in Zululand have somewhat changed,
for a number of Boers have got together to restore peace in Zululand. They
have done us the great favour of rescuing the missionaries Kiick and Her­
mann, who were surrounded on all sides and they have also proved to be
very friendly towards our missionaries. They have promised our brothers
that they will protect German missionaries and take care of the mission. "
It might be mentioned here that this promise has been faithfully kept.

In the Safe Haven of Peace

On 21st February 1858 Brother Volker, in the harbour of Durban, had writ­
ten in his diary: "As the Lord has permitted us to reach this harbour, so
may He also permit us to reach the heavenly harbour of peace, that none of
us may stay behind." That should now, after thirty-five years, be granted
him. On 3rd May 1893 the Lord fetched His loyal servant home and brought
him into His blessed heaven, into the safe haven of peace, "where all suffer­
ing and the buffeting of storms make way for the countenance of the Lord."
The missionary Friedrich Volker passed away at the age of 67 years and 5
days. When he had been dressed in his official robes he lay on his bed, a pic­
ture of peace. Soon the family, Germans from nearby whom he had looked
after spiritually and the Black congregation assembled around the deathbed
with loud lamentations. Then in the evening he was laid in his coffin and this
was taken by moonlight into the church.
The funeral took place the next day. Old Brother Schiitze delivered a ser­
mon in German from Psalm 73, 25. This was Brother Volker's blessing on
his being assigned to Africa and the last word of comfort which he had
heard on earth from the mouth of his wife. As Andreas, Volker's cattle
herdsman, had also died the same night, they were both buried together.
Brother Stallbom preached, standing between the two graves, in Zulu from
Phi!. I, 21 and the Native teacher, Martin, preached from John 11,25,26.
Soon afterwards one could read the following in the Hermannsburg Mis­
sion Journal: "It must have been moving to see the procession of mourners
On a Tough Missionary Post 15

at this service, who looked half-dead themselves, but still would not miss
following their dear Father to the graveside. The disease had affected and
laid low many and yet whoever could somehow manage, had come."
Though the dear Brother's pilgrimage was a life full of troubles and
drudgery, his last journey was in supreme peace. Eve,n if he attended to his
missionary vocation in true faith, he still knew that he could only receive
salvation through grace and he trusted in the mercy of his Saviour. We may
count him among those who have prevailed through the Blood of the Lamb.
"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they rest from their labour and
their works follow them."

NOTES
10 Brookes and Webb, History of Natal, p. 99-100. Ekuhlengeni was located in the district
given the royal prince Hamu as a reward for having defected to the British during the early
stages of the Anglo-Zulu War.
11 The Zulu Civil War of 1883 had adverse repercussions for missionaries in northern Zululand
with most of them fleeing to Natal for safety.
12 J. du Plessis, Christian Missions in Sourh Africa, (Cape Town, 1965), p. 386. Zibhebhu (Usi­
bepu), Royal Prince and arch-rival of Cetshwayo, shared John Dunn's hatred for mission­
aries. He made life untenable for the Swedish missionary Friestadt, forcing him to abandon
his station at Ekutuleni on two occasions.
16

The Battle of Ivuna

(or N dunu Hill)
Of the many battles fought in Zululand during the second half of the nine­
teenth century, the engagement of 23 June 1888 was one of the most singu­
lar. It was fought between the Usuthu adherents of Dinuzulu and their rival
Mandlakazi under Zibhebhu, and embroiled a force of Zululand Police gar­
risoning Mr Addison's magisterial post of Ivuna, situated in what is now the
middle of the little town of Nongoma in north-western KwaZulu.
Britain had formally annexed Zululand in May 1887, and for administra­
tive purposes had divided it into six magisterial districts. Ndwandwe Dis­
trict, comprising the north-western segment of the new colony, had been
allotted to Dick Addison, an experienced civil and police official, considered
to have a close knowledge of the Zulu. It was potentially a most trouble­
some district, for there dwelt Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, the son of the last
Zulu king, with the bulk of his adherents known as the Usuthu. From the
outset, Dinuzulu had shown dissatisfaction with his reduced status in a
British Zululand, and his recalcitrant behaviour had prompted the Governor
Sir Arthur Havelock and Melmoth Osborn, the Resident Commissioner of
Zululand, to resort to a disastrous expedient. They had decided to return
Zibhebhu kaMaphitha and his adherents, the Mandlakazi, to Ndwandwe
whence in 1884 they had been driven by the Usuthu in the final act of the
civil wars that had riven Zululand following Britain's dismantling of the old
kingdom in 1879. and her subsequent failure to take immediate responsibil­
ity for what she had brought about. Havelock and Os born hoped that the
near presence of their traditional foes would act as a natural check on
Usuthu truculence towards the colonial authorities. In one sense, their deci­
sion to employ the Mandlakazi was a rational one, for, since the middle of
1879, Zibhebhu had proved himself the most steadfast of collaborators with
the British, and Addison's small police force was clearly unequal to the task
of curbing the Usuthu. Yet in another, it was extremely short-sighted, for
the civil wars had left a legacy of great bitterness between the Usuthu and
Mandlakazi. Consequently, when the latter had returned to Ndwandwe un­
der government auspices in late 1887, clearly thirsting to avenge their defeat
of 1884 and loudly demanding the expUlsion of those Usuthu who since then
had settled on former Mandlakazi lands, the Usuthu had naturally been
filled with alarm. Addison's open bias in favour of Zibhebhu, who .had
come, after aiL as a stick with which he was to beat the Usuthu, had greatly
increased their disquiet. Despairing of the situation, Dinuzulu and his ad­
herents had retired in May 1888 to Ceza mountain, a traditional Usuthu
fastness on the borders of Zululand and the Boer New Republic, some
twenty miles south-west of Addison's post at Ivuna. By late June the
authorities had been unsuccessful in their attempts to dislodge them, while
for their part, the Usuthu had been engaged in raiding Zulus living in the vi­
cinity whom they considered to be guilty of collaborating with the British.
- -'
"" ­­-
./
//~".-
­
-e-;­
-/ '*' ~
Dick Addison (left, with pointer), Commandant Mansel (centre) and a detachment of the Reserve Territory Carbineers (later the Zulu­
land Police) c. 1886.
With grateful acknowledgment to the Natal Archives. Pictermaritzburg
Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo c. ISgS.
With grateful acknowledgment to the Natal Archives. Pietermaritzburg
Zibhebhu kaMaphitha with one of his wives c. 1886.
With grateful acknowledgment to the Natal Archives. Pietermaritzburg
The Battle of lvuna 17

The government, meanwhile, had called in the assistance of Imperial

troops, and a considerable force was now massing at Nkonjeni, 38 miles to
the south of Ivuna, preparatory to a renewed offensive against the Usuthu.
Part of the Ivuna garrison had gone to swell this concentration, and in their
absence Osborn had ordered Zibhebhu and his fighting men to move up to
Ivuna from their location in the eastern parts of the district in order to help
protect the magisterial post. Under the guise of undertaking patrol work on
the magistrate's orders, Zibhebhu had promptly made use of this opportu­
nity to raid Usuthu sympathisers and personal enemies living in the vicinity
of Ivuna. When word of these doings reached the Usuthu on Ceza, their
leaders determined to launch an immediate surprise attack on Zibhebhu in
order to settle with him and his Mandlakazi once and for all. Accordingly,
just after dusk on 22 June, they set off with the entire armed force at Ceza
on a night march towards Ivuna.
Zibhebhu had with him fifteen amaviya ('companies'), or between seven
and eight hundred men. They were encamped with a number of women and
children in temporary shelters in the scrubby bush of the Ndunu hill, nine
hundred yards to the east of Addison's post, which in turn was situated on
the low range of the Nongoma hills. The marshy headwaters of a stream, the
Mbile, ran through a deep, narrow valley between the two positions. On the
lower slopes of the Ndunu hill, about half a mile south-west of Zibhebhu's
camp, another large body of Zulu were encamped with their livestock.
These were followers of Ziwedu kaMpande, whose nephew Dinuzulu had
raided for co-operating with the authorities, and who had thought in conse­
quence that they would be safer if they settled temporarily in the vicinity of
the magisterial post and its garrison. Addison's post itself had been built to
withstand an attack. At its core was a sturdy little earthwork fort thrown up
by the Zululand Police. It had a diameter of fifteen yards, and its parapet
was sandbagged and loopholed. Around it ran a wide, deep ditch. About
fifty yards from the fort, and surrounding it, was a strong zereba of thorn­
bushes. Between the ditch and the zereba Addison had almost completed
the construction of a house, in which he had hoped his wife and children,
then living in Eshowe, would soon be able to join him. A mess house and
the Zululand Police huts were also within the enclosure, while the magis­
tracy office itself was outside. The force actually garrisoning this post was
not large, consisting of only fifty Zulu land Police under the command of
Sub-Inspector Jack Osborn (the Resident Commissioner's son), Dick Addi­
son the magistrate, his clerk Cuthbert Foxon, three Imperial soldiers who
operated the heliograph, a few local traders and transport riders, and a
handful of court orderlies and messengers; yet considering that they all had
to fit inside the fort, it was perhaps just as well that there were no more of
them.
Mkhwezili Mangele, an adherent of Zibhebhu's, recounted in 1942 that
the Usuthu force from Ceza bivouacked on the night of the 22 June some
four miles from the Nongoma hills, and there prepared themselves for the
coming battle. During the dead of night, when all was quiet, Zibhebhu's
scouts heard Dinuzulu's men chanting their war-songs, and the Mandlakazi,
as Mkhwezili recalled, in turn hastened to make themselves ready. Sadly,
this romanticised version is contradicted by the testimony of Zimbube ka­
Maphitha, a brother of Zibhebhu's, whose account was taken down by the

NAT -8
18 The Battle 0/ iVlllla

magistrate stationed at Nongoma in 1935. Zimbube's story, which Mr Braat­

vedt checked for accuracy against the memories of other surviving veterans
of the battle, also tallies substantially with the contemporary reports of the
whites within the fort, and with the evidence of blacks engaged on either
side. It would appear, in fact, that far from being fore-warned, Zibhebhu
had neglected to post any sentries at all, as he had not anticipated an Usu­
thu attack. Consequently, when at five minutes to six on the morning of
Saturday 23 June police sentries at the Ivuna camp gave the alarm that a
large armed force was approaching from the north (the steep western flank
of the Nongoma range seems to have dictated the direction of the Usuthu
advance), the Mandlakazi were taken completely off their guard.
Through his spy-glass, Addison recognized the advancing impi from their
distinctive mshokobezi (the white cow-tail decorations hanging from necks
and elbows) as being an Usuthu force, and with the rest of the garrison and
its hangers-on, precipitately abandoned the camp and took refuge within the
fort. Within ten minutes of their first being sighted the Usuthu impi,
between three or four thousand men strong, breasted the Nongoma ridge
about 1 200 yards from the camp, and apparently undeterred by their long
march and sleepless night, swept resolutely down towards the fort. To those
watching apprehensively from behind its walls, they seemed to come on like
a great half moon, and indeed, their battle formation was strictly traditional,
with skirmishers to the front of the curving horns and a reserve in support.
Their tactics were traditional too, and while the left horn, nearly three thou­
sand strong, wheeled to the south-west and moved along the slope leading
to Zibhebhu's camp, the smaller right horn, of about a thousand men, came
on straight towards the fort.
On the Ndunu hill, Zibhebhu was doing all he could in the few minutes al­
lowed him to form up his men to face the Usuthu onslaught. Numbers of
them ran away at the first sight of the enemy, but the remainder of his
badly-outnumbered force, all of whom wore a red ribbon around the neck
or forehead which had been served out to them by Addison and which dis­
tinguished them as Native Levies in the government's service, responded
manfully. In the centre, Zibhebhu drew up his best fighting men, the iNyo­
nemhlophe (white bird) ibhutho ('regiment'). flanked to left and right re­
spectively by the elderly Ekuvukeni and Banganomo amabutho (regiments).
named after two of Zibhebhu's principal homesteads. As the Mandlakazi
moved to take up position before their camp, Zibhebhu rode before them
on his white horse, encouraging them with his indomitable courage and con­
temptuous references to the Usuthu 'rabble', which he declared his men
could chase off with their sticks alone. Neither side made a sound as they
approached each other, but when at a distance of about 350 yards the Usu­
thu charged and the Mandlakazi ran to meet them, a terrific din broke out,
with the Usuthu yelling their cry of USlIthu! and the Mandlakazi responding
with their Washesha! Though the venerable Usuthu induna Hemulana kaM­
banyezeli had devised the Usuthu strategy, Dinuzulu and his uncle Ndabuko
kaMpande actively led the attack, assisted by three or four Boers from the
New Republic, who had accompanied the impi as 'advisers'. These last were
dressed in light coloured clothing with the mshokobezi in their hats, and by
some reports had blackened their hands and faces in order not to be de­
tected by the Ivuna garrison. Dinuzulu opened the Usuthu attack by leading
The Battle of Ivuna 19

his force of thirty or forty horsemen against the iNyonemhlophe of the

Mandlakazi centre, but these hurled stones and assegais at the horses, caus­
ing the force to recoil in complete confusion. The unmounted Usuthu uFa­
laza (chatterers) ibutho was in close support, however. followed by the im­
Bokodwebomvu (red grindstone) and inGobamakhosi (bender of kings)
amabutho, and immediately engaged the Mandlakazi in hand-to-hand fight­
ing with the assegai. For a moment the Usuthu wavered and even fell back a
few paces at the Mandlakazi's determined resistance, but their greatly supe­
rior numbers quickly told. The Ekuvukeni and Banganomo amabutho on
the Mandlakazi flanks began to crumble, while in a classic manoeuvre the
Usuthu imBokodwebomvu ibutho outflanked the Mandlakazi and took them
from the rear. The shattered Mandlakazi flanks disintegrated, and were al­
most at once joined in their precipitate flight by the iNyonemhlope of the
centre, who could not alone sustain the overwhelming Usuthu attack.
While the Usuthu left horn engaged the Mandlakazi on Ndunu hill, their
smaller right horn continued its advance on the fort. This horn was made up
of the abaQulusi, close adherents of the Zulu Royal House who, as a result
of the creation of the New Republic. were now subjects of the Boers. In his
address before the battle, Dinuzulu had reminded them that their mission
was to obliterate Zibhebhu, and not to fight the white people. The Usuthu
strategy, however, which envisaged that the right horn would cut off the
Mandlakazi line of retreat to the Ivuna camp, demanded that it pass close by
the fort. This would bring it within easy range of the garrison, but Dinuzulu
had strictly cautioned the abaQulusi not to retaliate, even if fired upon. The
garrison were naturally not to know of these instructions, and were there­
fore taken by surprise when the abaQulusi, instead of launching the antic­
ipated frontal attack on the fort, suddenly wheeled to their left about six
hundred yards short of their presumed objective and set off in the direction
of the battle now raging on Ndunu hill. Sub-Inspector Osborn, clearly hop­
ing to prevent their joining in the unequal struggle against Zibhebhu, now
ordered the Zululand Police to fire upon the abaQulusi as they changed
front. The effect of their volley was to cause the abaOulusi to rush towards
the cover of the narrow valley of the Mbile, yet without interfering with
their primary objective, which was to get between the now flying Mandla­
kazi and the protection of the fort. In this they were most successful, for
they intercepted and killed large numbers of the Mandlakazi in the bed of
the Mbile stream and on the slope leading up to the fort. Only a handful
managed to break through and gain the fort. One of these was Zimbube,
who had the advantage of being mounted. After being momentarily stuck in
the mud of the marshy Mbile, and having suffered an assegai wound, he
managed to shake off his pursuers and gallop his horse up the Nongoma
ridge to the fort. There it was promptly shot from under him by one of the
panicky Zululand Police who had taken him for an enemy. Addison recog­
nized Zimbube and shouted to the police to hold their fire, but another per­
sisted in firing and shattered the butt of Zimbube's rifle. Understandably
enraged at being fired upon by his allies after so narrowly running the gaunt­
let of Usuthu, Zimbube raised what was left of his weapon to retaliate in
kind. Addison was too quick for him, however, and in a deft movement
knocked up his gun, and seizing him by the throat. threw him over back­
wards with such effect, that all remaining fight was knocked out of him.
20 The Battle of Ivuna

In the course of his flight towards the fort, Zimbube had come across Zib­
hebhu, heading down Ndunu hill in the same direction. But Zibhebhu,
gauging that there was no hope of escape across the Mbile, mounted his
horse and made good his escape in the opposite direction. Mkhwezile rather
fancifully recounted that at one stage in his flight Zibhebhu, on being hotly
pressed by his pursuers, covered himself with corpses in order to avoid de­
tection. Be that as it may, most of his followers were forced by the presence
of the Usuthu right horn along the Mbile to follow the direction of his flight.
They were pursued by the enemy's left horn, including Dinuzulu on his little
bay mare with the half-cut tail, out of sight of the fort, across the Mona river
over five miles away, and as far as the Mangwana hill some way beyond.
The Usuthu did not confine themselves to the Mandlakazi, but having
routed them, began to loot and burn their huts (in which activity the Boers
among them took a prominent part), and then turned on Ziwedu's people,
cowering in caves and holes near the Mbile stream on the lower slopes of
the Ndunu hill. It was while parties of his men were rounding up these un­
fortunates' cattle and other livestock, that Dinuzulu ordered his mounted
men to take up position on the rocky crest of Ndunu hill, whence they com­
menced a desultory and inaccurate fire on the fort. Their intention was ap­
parently to discourage any hostile intervention from that quarter, and if Di­
nuzulu's charge is true, also to drive back a small party of mounted
Zululand Police who had made a sortie and were 'finishing off' the abaQu­
lusi lying wounded from the fire earlier directed at them from the fort.
Having rounded up a great herd of about 750 cattle, mainly from Ziwe­
du's people but including a number belonging to Zibhebhu, which they had
found lower down the valley of the Mbile, as well as some from the Police
cattle kraal 300 yards in front of the fort, the Usuthu re-formed. With their
booty and prisoners (a number of captured Mandlakazi men, women and
children), they began to retire along the ridge, coming under the fire of the
Zululand Police all the while. Passing to the east of Ndunu hill, they only
turned back in the direction of Ceza a mile north of the fort and out of its
effective range.
At the outset of the battle Addison, who had supposed that the Mandla­
kazi would attempt to take refuge in the ditch surrounding the fort (which
was itself too small to accommodate both them and the garrison), had
ordered that the horses which were tethered there be cast loose. These had
naturally galloped off in panic and the Usuthu had succeeded in capturing
and riding off with seventeen of them, including two of Addison's own. One
of Addison's, however, bolted back up the wagon road to the fort, and its
new owner Makhunya, the induna of the abaQulusi, had little choice but to
throw himself off at a full gallop rather than face' Addison's retribution. A
number of the Boers did set off after it, but coming under fire from the fort,
gave up the chase. Addison, who had a great reputation as a horseman, was
especially pleased to have it back, for his recovered cream-coloured horse
was apparently a most valuable beast. He was less fortunate with his two
dogs, a pointer and a greyhound, which, running loose at the time of the at­
tack, had been caught and killed by the Usuthu.
Once it became apparent that the Usuthu were definitely retiring, Addi­
son ordered out a mounted patrol of eight Zululand Police under Corporal
Mathutha to ascertain in which direction they were headed. Mathutha and
The Battle of Ivuna 21

his men followed in the impi's wake along the ridge, occasionally dismount­
ing and exchanging shots with its rearguard. An attempt by some Usuthu
horsemen to take them from the rear was foiled by supporting fire from the
fort. At length, the intrepid Police caught up with four amaviyo of the
enemy, all on foot, who had lagged behind the main body as they were driv­
ing a herd of captured cattle before them. The nine Policemen charged them
with determination, and the Usuthu fled without attempting to make a
stand, abandoning their booty. As their ammunition was now running out,
Mathutha decided to return to the fort with the recaptured cattle. On the
way he set his men about collecting stray cattle in the dongas, and there they
came across some eighty of Zibhebhu's and Ziwedu's women and a number
of their children who had been sheltering there. Apart from these, Mathu­
tha and his gallant men had succeeded in recapturing or rounding up about
200 head of cattle. They had failed, however, to regain any of the captured
goats and sheep.
Despite the return of Mathutha's successful patrol, tension in the fort re­
mained high, for the retiring impi hovered in sight until late afternoon,
when it finally began to withdraw in the direction of Ceza. Until then the
garrison had waited in increasing dismay, for Addison had doubted their
ability to withstand the determined, full-scale attack on their position which
the continued Usuthu presence had seemed to threaten.
The following morning, in response to Addison's alarming heliographs of
the previous day, a column of Imperial troops and Zululand Police arrived
from Nkonjeni to relieve the garrison. The grisly task of assessing the casu­
alties suffered in the battle then commenced. No one from the lvuna garri­
son had suffered the slightest hurt, but Zibhebhu's losses had been very
heavy. He himself estimated these at 200 killed and between 50 and 60
wounded, though Commandant Mansel of the Zululand Police, after a care­
ful examination of the field, put the Mandlakazi dead at nearer 300. Many
of them were in his words 'terribly butchered', and lay heaped up in piles in
the Mbile spruit where the abaQulusi had intercepted their flight. Mansel
saw 40 men lying dead in one line on top of Ndunu hill where the main en­
counter had taken place, and counted more scattered along the line of the
Mandlakazi rout towards the Mona river. Ziwedu's people had lost seven
killed and one wounded. Not more than 25 to 30 Usuthu had been killed,
and some of these were victims of the fire from the fort. On the 25 June, the
Ivuna post, which in the circumstances the military authorities considered
untenable, was abandoned, and its garrison (including Zibhebhu's surviving
adherents, whom he had gathered together in the interim) were evacuated
to Nkonjeni. Knowing that the abandoned post would inevitably be looted,
Cuthbert Foxon, the magistrate's clerk, buried the valuables and documents
that could not be taken with them in the ditch of the fort. And indeed, when
Ivuna was re-established in August 1888 once the British had succeeded in
finally defeating and dispersing the Usuthu, Addison found that his magis­
tracy building had been wrecked, while his house, the mess and the Police
huts within the zereba had all been burnt down. The fort itself was still in­
tact, and this was immediately strengthened. But marauders had left the site
of the camp covered in debris, while the magistracy safe, which Addison
had purposely left open to show that it contained no money, had neverthe­
less been broken. The money-boxes which Foxon had buried in the ditch
22 The Battle of Ivuna

had been unearthed and cut open, while Addison's receipt book, ledger and
journal had all been destroyed. It was as if the Zulus, chary of attacking the
post when garrisoned by the representatives and armed servants of the
Crown, had vented their resentment of the new colonial order by pillaging
and destroying its artefacts.
J.P.c. LABAND
NOTE ON SOURCES

Information on the battle of Ivuna is scattered throughout private and public collections of

documents and contemporary newspapers. It would serve little purpose to enumerate every

single source, but a selection of those which have either thrown important light on the subject

or which have been extensively consulted are listed below.

Primary sources

In the private collection of R.H. Addison, Esq.:

E.N. Braatvedt & F.M. Braatvedt, History of Nongoma and The Fort at Nongoma (typed
manuscript, 1935);
F. Addison, The Family of Dr. W.H. Addison (Pinetown, 1959).
In the Killie Campbell Africana Library:
Mkhwezili Mangele, as told to S.W.J. Mozibuko, Battle of Nongoma (entry in Dr KiIlie Camp­
bell's Essay Competition, 1942).
In the Natal Archives, Pietermaritzburg:
Government House Zululand 712, No. Z377/88: Addison to Osborn, 26 June 1888 - the

official report on the battle.

Colenso Collection, Box 106, (Trials of the Zulu Chiefs 1888-9, No. 1):

Dinuzulu's Statement, pp. 33-4; Ndabuko's Further Statement, pp. 8, 21-2.

Colenso Collection, Box 109 (Trials of the Zulu Chiefs 1888-9, No. 4:

Court of the Special Commissioners for Zululand (London, 1889»:

Addison's evidence, pp. 30, 120-1,356; Foxon's evidence, pp. 159--61,183-4;

Mansel's evidence, p. 195; Vuzindhlu's evidence, pp. 175,178;

Matuta's evidence, pp. 262-4, 266; Umhlahlo's evidence, pp. 294-5,298;

Mbusane's evidence, pp. 255,258-9; Mhlupeqi's evidence, pp. 260-1;

Norris's evidence, p. 245: Roberts's evidence, p. 241.

In the Natal Society Library:

Times of Natal, 7 & 12 July 1888;

Natal Advertiser, 23 July 1888; Natal Mercury, 7 July & 6 December 1888.

The diagrammatic reconstruction of the battlefield by Bruno Martin, University of Natal Car­

tographer, was made possible by relating the extant evidence of those present on the day with

the topographical features depicted on the modern Trigonometrical Survey map of Nongoma.

Especially useful when attempting to show the exact disposition of the contending forces was

the 1906 plan of Nongoma in the Office of the Surveyor-General, for in their testimony veter­

ans still alive in the twentieth century constantly related their narrative to buildings and land­

marks then existing in Nongoma. William Cooper's sketch of the fort and its surroundings in the

Court of the Special Commissioners, p. 238, is of use only in giving the relative positions of the

fort and magisterial post. Harriette Colenso's diagram of the battlefield in Trials of the Zulu

Chiefs, No. 1, p. 21, is positively misleading.

Secondary sources

The earliest secondary account of the battle of Ivuna is by J.Y. Gibson (who succeeded Dick

Addison as the Magistrate of Ndwandwe in May 1889), in The Story of the Zulus (London,

1911), pp. 307-9. It is based on Addison's report (GHZ 712, No. Z377/88) which was printed in

British Parliamentary Papers LXXV of 1888 (c. 5522), enc.1 (11) in No. 52: Addison to

Osborn, 26 June, 1887. Gibson gives a detailed and imaginative account of the Usuthu night

march. There is a brief, but comprehensive, version of the battle, told graphically from a Zulu

point of view, and based on accurate oral tradition in M.M. Fuze, The Black People (Pieter­

maritzburg and Durban, 1979), pp. 125--{). H.C. Lugg, Historic Zululand and Natal (Pieter­

maritzburg, 1949), pp. 148, 150, supplies colourful details on Zibhebhu's part in the battle,

clearly based on oral evidence. Oliver Walker's short account in Proud Zulu (London, 1949),

pp. 244-5, casts an heroic glow over the Mandlakazi. The two cursory and very similar descrip­

tions of the battle by T.V. Bulpin in Shaka's Country (Cape Town, 1952) p. 210; and in Natal

and the Zulu Country (Cape Town 1966), pp. 301-2, are both clearly based on Addison's pub­

lished report in the B.P.P., as is C.T. Binns' in Dinuzulu: the Death of the House of Shaka

(London, 1968), pp. 126--7.

 23

The Voortrekker Dorps of Natal

Historians have tended to gloss over the Voortrekker period of Natal history
and for good reason. The main source of information for this period, the
minutes of the Natal Volksraad, is written in Nederlands-Afrikaans and is
frustratingly incomplete. The historian is thus confronted by missing data
and this coupled with the unwritten assumption that virtually all traces of
Voortrekker settlement have been erased, has resulted not only in super­
ficial treatment but also in inaccuracies and inconsistencies with respect to
the foundation and character of the Voortrekker dorps in present day Natal.
The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to demonstrate that geographical
analysis can help overcome the problems posed by missing data, and, sec­
ondly, to suggest that such analysis yields urban conservation guidelines.
The analysis proceeds on an assumption basic to cultural geography: each
culture group moulds the physical landscape into a cultural landscape.!
Townscapes or dorp images and plans should be seen then as part of the cul­
tural baggage which is taken along by migrating groups.
In order to see the Voortrekker dorps of Natal in context, and to discern
common elements which help to overcome some of the problems posed by
missing data, it is instructive to outline the origin, early character, and pat­
tern of the dorps established during Dutch rule of the Cape.

The Dutch-Afrikaner Dorp Family

The Afrikaner dorp was born during Dutch rule of the Cape as a result of
the transplanting of Dutch town planning ideals and plans in South African
soil. Dutch Cape Town soon took on the appearance of a typical Dutch
canal town - even the main street was named after its counterpart in Am­
sterdam, the Heerengracht. Other street names were Kerk (Church), Lange­
markt (Longmarket), Loop (Walk) and Berg (Mountain). In 1771 the
French naturalist Bernardin de St. Pierre visited Cape Town and remarked:
the streets are very straight, some of them are watered with canals and
most of them planted with oak trees ... When a man has seen one
Dutch town he has seen them all ... (Colvin, 1912, pp. 272-278).
As late as 1832, some 26 years after the British had taken possession of
the Cape, the town was still remarkably Dutch in appearance.
The Cape-Dutch dorpe, or nucleated agricultural communities, grew or­
ganically as a result of the congregational gathering for several days on the
occasion of the 'nagmaal', or quarterly communion service. The embryonic
dorp characteristically developed as a single row of houses located at the
front of irrigated agricultural erven. Commercial or defensive requisites thus
had very little bearing on the choice of dorp sites.
Stellenbosch, Swellendam, Paarl and Tulbagh were all single street dorps
during their embryonic period. William Burchell visited Tulbagh in 1811,
and described the place as:
nothing more than a half score of neat white houses placed in a row
... In front ... and running under the shade of trees is a strong rill of
24 Voortrekker Dorps of Natal

excellent water, led there, as well for the supply of the inhabitants, as
for the irrigation of their gardens, which lie on a gentle declivity imme­
diately below it (Burchell, Vol I, 1824, p. ]28).

In the same year BurcheIl also visited Paarl and described it as consisting
of " ... between forty and fifty neat houses, placed at a considerable dis­
tance from each other, and forming a single street, about the middle of
which stands the church ... " (Burchell, Vol 1,1824, pp. 143-]44).
The settlement of farmers in the eastern Cape Province resulted in the
growth of two further dorps prior to the advent of British control in 1806:
Graaff-Reinet and Uitenhage. In 1786 Governor van der Graaff authorised
the establishment of a church and drostdy on the Sundays River, and in ]797
John Barrow described the place as:
an assemblage of mud huts placed at some distance from each other, in
two lines, forming a kind of street ... There is no butcher, no chand­
ler, no grocer. no baker (Barrow, 1801, pp. 113-114).
In 1812 however Burchell noted:
It consists of one broad princip,"ll street, of detached houses, adjoining
to each of which is a garden wdl planted with fruit trees and conti­
nually supplied with water. The church, a large handsome building, on
the ground plan of a cross, stands on a spacious plain at the northern
end of the main street, of which it forms the terminating object ...
Along the principal street a row of orange and lemon trees, at this time
loaded with fruit formed a decoration as novel to an English eye, as it
was in itself beautiful ... (Burchell, Vol 11,1824, pp. 144-145).
By 1823, Graaff-Reinet had grown into a fully-fledged dorp consisting of:
irrigated erven measuring 15 by 40 Rhineland Roods,2 or one morgen, and
extending from street to street: and, houses built along the tree-lined
streets. 3
Uitenhage, which was laid out in ]8U4, also had many dorp characteris­
tics, including irrigated erven of one morgen.
Such was the character of the dorps most familiar at the time of the Great
Trek to the Voortrekkers, with one notable exception, Grahamstown,
where Pieter Retief lived and built prior to leading one of the Voortrekker
parties (Figure a).
Grahamstown is usually associated with the 1820 British settlers but it was
an established single street dorp when they arrived. In 1812 Colonel
Graham chose a site to serve as military headquarters but doubts soon arose
about the suitability of the site from a strategic point of view, and because of
its water supply. Graham, acting on the advice of a young ensign, Andries
Stockenstrc)m, reluctantly ordered the headquarters to be transferred to the
present site of Grahamstown. The establishment of the Albany District in
1814, with the Landdrost stationed in Grahamstown, stimulated demand for
land in the vicinity of the fledgeling dorp, and Surveyor Knobel was given
the task of laying out a town. Tn his report to the Governor, Knobel wrote:
I have thought necessary, previous to any measuring of the lots, to
submit to you a sketch of this place as it now stands (Cory, Vol I,
1921, pp. 269-270).
Voortrekker Dorps of Natal 25

THE EARLY SPREAD OF Schoemansdal (1848)

o
THE AFRIKANER 'DORP'

• Early Voortrekker dorpe

® The dorpe of Natalia

o l.a1er Voortrekker dorpe

* Dutch dorpe
Voortrekker migra~on which resulted

in the foundation of dorpe

lwIrtI... * *Tul~ ••h 11111)

11145
c.,.(1157)
TDWIt **..P,tI......
..... (1IID)
*8..11..... _ _- - - ' - _
(1745)
100
, 200
, 300
,

PI7I,

Figure a

Knobel's sketch plan contains the surveyor's suggestion of keeping the

existing street which ". . . would give the Drostdy House a view of the
whole street, and although a triangular space would be left open that space
having the most elevated ground in its centre, might allow a very convenient
situation for a church or any public building" (Cory, Vol I, 1921, pp.
270-271).
Knobel's plan was approved and the sale of erven, measuring '50 paces
broad and 150 paces long' (Cory, Vol I, 1921, p. 269) took place in May
1815. Eleven erven were sold: five to military personnel, and the remainder
to bearers of German and Dutch names - Pieter Retief bought two. Not
only were Retief, Diety, and Pohl active in the building industry, they were
also signatories to the 1820 town regulations. The twelfth article of these
was clearly Dutch-inspired in that it promulgated a single building line:
The irregular way of Building tending to greatly disfigure the village
everyone intending to build in future shall be bound to give notice to
the Landdrost who will take care that the proper Line of the Street be
pointed out according to which the Builder will be bound strictly to
regulate himself in laying the foundation ... being obliged to change
the line he has Built on if it be found that he has deviated from that on
which the other Houses stand (Unpublished regulations, Albany Mu­
seum).
This regulation, which is also to be found in Pietermaritzburg's original
erven occupance regulations, ran contrary to British notions of free standing
houses, and was repeatedly violated after the influx of the 1820 settlers into
Grahamstown.
26 Voortrekker Dorps of Natal

An 1823 painting of Grahamstown provides one of the best early views of

any South African townscape. The broad High Street running into the trian­
gular open space where the cathedral now stands, the streetline row of
buildings, already exhibiting contrasts between the flat-roofed or gabled­
and-thatched Dutch buildings, and the hip and pitched-roofed English
houses, as well as the long narrow erven given to cultivated fields and
orchards, are all clearly shown. A fusion or blending of these two architectu­
ral traditions took place in Grahamstown, and this along with the town's
dorp site, erven, street plan and church location combined to impart a truly
South African character to the townscape. In many ways embryonic Gra­
hams town served as the prototype for the dorps established by the Retief
party in Natal and beyond.

The Dorps of Natalia

In November 1837 the Retief party descended the Drakensberg into what is
now Natal. They were followed in 1838 by the Maritz and Uys parties.
Retief left the main body of his party in northern Natal while he led an ad­
vance party to the Bay of Natal and it is probable4 that Retief himself chose
the site for the capital dorp, Pietermaritzburg, en route.

Pieter Mauritz Burg

In a January 1838 letter Andries Pretorius, who had just returned to the
Cape after a fact-finding tour of Natal, wrote "Vierhondern waens was op
weg na die kant waar die nuwe stad sou aangele word - nml. in Natal­
wat gelee sal wees aan 'n welgekose vallei, een dagreis van die Baai af"s
(Preller, 1937, p. 22). Only the Retief advance party had passed through the
chosen area by the date of Pretorius's report, and the spur site chosen for
the dorp was very similar to that of Grahamstown.
Piet Greyling, Retief's son-in-law, became the commandant of the laager
which was formed on the present site of the dorp by July 1838. In his diary
entry for 23rd October 1838 Erasmus Smit, the Voortrekker minister, re­
corded that the dorp recently laid out by Greyling had been named "Pieter
Maritz Burg'"" (Schoon, 1972, p. 143). In the following month one Gideon
Joubert visited Greyling's laager and noted the existence of a sizeable fur­
row which was used to irrigate cultivated erven (Jansen, 1938, p. 22). On
the 31st March 1839 Pretorius, the Chief Commandant of the Republic of
Natalia, informed the British Military Commandant at Port Natal that
" ... 300 beautiful erven have already been given out, surveyed and partly
planted,,7 (Bird, Vol. I, 1965, p. 522).
As in the case of Grahamstown it seems likely that the dorp's erven were
paced out, because although there is evidence that 450 by 150 Rhineland
feet (463,5 by 154,5 English feet) was the Natalia Volksraad's standard erf
size,S none of Pietermaritzburg's erven blocks were found to be of those
dimensions by the first English survey in 1845. Rather, erven depths ranged
from 460 to 479 English feet. Despite these variations in erven sizes the dorp
developed in a highly regulated manner.
Article 5 of the Erven Occupance Regulations, which were promulgated
in February 1839, decreed that: De Woonhuizen zullen, naar aanwyzing van
een daartoe gekwalificeerde persoon, in den front moeten worden gebouwd
en in een gelyke linie9 (South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1, 1958,
Voortrekker Dorps of Natal 27

p. 295). This prescription of near-uniform street vistas can be traced back to

Grahamstown and even to Holland. where Burke maintains that the " ...
tenet that the street should be regarded as a single architectural composition
... " was widely adhered to in the making of Dutch townscapes (Burke,
1956, p. 71).
Although the original plan of Pietermaritzburg has been 10st,1O a perusal
of the Natal Volksraad minutes suggests that the plan (Figure b) closely re­
sembles the original. The dorp was laid out on a spur of sloping land be­
tween the Umsindusi River and one of its tributaries, in such a way that
water could be led in furrows from the tributary - soon to be appropriately
named the Dorpsruit - down the long streets. Five cross streets demarcated
rectangular blocks, each of which was subdivided into ten erven.ll

PIETERMARITZBURG

Figure b

Embryonic Pietermaritzburg was a worthy member of the Afrikaner dorp

family, and in the 1860s John Shedden Dobie perceptively noted:
a stream of pure water is fed in an open ditch or 'sluit' down the side of
each of the streets which lie parallel with the ridge ... This is quite a
Dutch fashion. The streets are also lined on one side. sometimes on
both sides, with trees (Hattersley, 1945, p. 15).
The names of Pietermaritzburg's long streets included Kerk. Langmarkt,
Loop and Berg which recall thoroughfares in Dutch Cape Town, and one
can concur with Charles Barter who declared that" ... the selection of the
spot and the original design had been the work of no mean prentices of their
craft ... " (Barter, 1852, p. 22).
 Voorrrekker Dorps of Natal

One other morphologic feature needs to be noted to complete this review

of early Pietermaritzburg's layout and character. This is that the cemetery,
as in other historic dorps, but unlike the juxtaposition of church and church­
yard in British settler towns and villages, was located on the outskirts of the
original dorp.12
Thus although Pietermaritzburg is renowned for its Victorian architecture,
its setting, street plan, street names, and peripheral cemetery stamp it as a
Voortrekker dorp.
Congella and Durban
In the vicinity of the Bay of NataL the Voortrekkers clustered in three laag­
ers somewhat removed from the small group of British traders at Port Natal.
The Congella laager was the only one which progressed to the stage where it
could be identified as a fledgeling dorp. By November 1839 the Volksraad
was selling erven at Congelia and in May 1842, Congella was described as
" ... a small village belonging to the Dutch" (Holden, 1963, p. 109). There
are records of the Volksraad granting 450 by 150 feet erven at Congella
(South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1, 1958, p. 136), and the
British Commissioner, Henry Cloete, produced the sketch plan. The further
development of Congella was however stifled by the laying out of the town
of Durban on the shores of the Bay and only a few kilometres away from
Congella.
G.c. Cato, a British trader at the port, was apparentlyl" instructed by the
Volksraad to " ... layout a seaport town anywhere from the Umbilo to the
mouth of the Umgeni" (Goetzsche, 1966, p. 28). He chose a bayshore site
and his plan consisted of beach erven measuring 100 by 500 to 700 English

Figure c
Published with grateful acknowledgment to the "'Jatal Archives, Pie1ermaritlhurg
Voortrekker Dorps of Natal 29

feet, and smaller erven which were supposed to measure 100 by 150 Rhine­
land feet, or 103 by 154V2 English feet. The first 'English Survey' plan, (Fig­
ure c) accepted 103 English feet as the width of an erf but set their
length at 150 English feet, with one exception. The lot set aside for the
Chapel should have measured 150 English feet square. However the English
measure was used along the cross street and the Rhineland measure along
Smith Street. The lot thus measured 150 by 154V2 English feet (Russell,
1899, pp. 67-69).
Thus early Durban was a blend of Dutch and English townscape prefer­
ences, and this example of intercultural borrowing suggests that wherever
these two culture groups came into contact in the making of towns, such
borrowing produced truly South African places.
Weenen
According to Christopher (1976, p. 109) the dorp of Weenen was laid out
alongside the Bushman's River in 1838. Russell selects 1839 as the year in
which "a permanent camp or village" (Russell, 1911, p. 172) was formed,
while Theal (1892, p. 398) puts the laying out in 1840. The minutes of the
Natal Volksraad support Theal's date.
The establishment of a Bushman's River dorp was first proposed at the
Volksraad meeting held on 2nd April 1840 (South African Archival Re­
cords, Natal No. 1, 1958, p. 40). On the 5th June 1840 the Volksraad

Published with grateful acknowledgment to the Natal Archives. Pietermaritzburg.

30 Voortrekker Dorps of Natal

granted a compensation farm to C. Klopper, since his farm was to be used

for the dorp, and a commission was appointed to inspect the site and draw
up a plan for the 'aanstaande' (intended) dorp (South African Archival Re­
cords, Natal No. 1, 1958, p. 45). At the meeting held on 13th August 1840
the dorp was named Weenen by acclamation (South African Archival Re­
cords, Natal No. 1, 1958, p. 57). On the 7th April 1841 it was decided to
make a further one hundred erven available, under the same regulations as
the earlier grants at Weenen (South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1,
1958, p. 87), but these regulations and the Volksraad plan have both been
lost.
Commissioner Cloete's 1843 sketch plan (Figure d) is the earliest plan of
Weenen, and although the floodplain site as well as the reservation of erven
for a church at the top of Church Street are reminiscent of Graaff-Reinet,
the 450 by 150 English feet erven stamp Weenen as a Retief party dorp.
John Moreland's 1853 sketch of Weenen suggests perhaps a dozen houses
and this is corroborated by Mann's 1859 description:
this village consists of fourteen houses, scattered over a broad valley
... There is an abundant and never-failing supply of water ... There
is a Dutch Reformed Church in the village, and a branch of the magis­
trate's office is still retained there; but the headquarters are now
placed upon the drift of the Great Bushman's River. .. (Mann, 1859,
pp. 125-126).
The movement of the magistrate to Estcourt and the Afrikaner trek away
from Natal after British annexation, meant that Weenen was largely de­
serted and little has changed since that exodus. Consequently the dusty
streets, the abandoned erven, the old furrows, the handful of early houses
and some aged rows of oak, gum and jacaranda trees provide us with a
unique glimpse of a voortrekker dorp in the making (See below).
Voortrekker Dorps of Natal 31

Later Voortrekker Dorps

The Voortrekkers who left British-annexed Natal in the 1840s were

responsible for the foundation of two more dorps: those from Pietermaritz­

burg played a leading role in the establishment of Lydenburg in the Trans­

vaal; and those from Weenen founded Utrecht in what is now Northern Na­

tal.

Both Lydenburg and Utrecht were laid out on sites 14 which could be irri­
gated from a Dorpsrivier or Dorpspruit. Both contained street-to-street
erven measuring 450 by 150 Rhineland feet, as well as a central Kerkplein
and peripheral cemeteries. Utrecht's four long streets were named Bloem
(Flower), Kerk, Voor (Canal) and Hoog (High) and two of the cross-streets
were Loop (Walk) and Keerom (Turn around). In addition to these model
Afrikaner dorp features Utrecht contained a number of cattle kraals and
horse stables - some of which are still standing. Utrecht's 'dorpsgesig' or
townscape, was further enriched by the use of sandstone as a building
material. Utrecht impressed its first Minister as "een aantaL dicht bij
elkander gelegen boerenplaatsen" 15 (Lion Cachet, 1898, p. 356).

Conclusions and Suggestions

The Voortrekker dorps of Natal were worthy members of the Afrikaner
dorp family. They were aesthetic as well as functional compositions, clearly
reflecting their founders penchant for the rural way of life and orderly lay­
outs. Natal is fortunate to have such a rich Voortrekker dorp legacy - none
of the other provinces can boast an extant dorp, such as Weenen, a modified
dorp, such as Utrecht, and an almost completely remade dorp in Pieter­
maritzburg. Natal's Voortrekker legacy is further enhanced by the setting of
these dorps amidst an impressive array of 1850 British settler towns, such as
Richmond and Estcourt, as well as colonial and mining towns. In short
Natal possesses all of the ingredients which went into the making of South
Africa's townscapes, but this townscape heritage needs to be enunciated, ap­
preciated, and conserved. Not just for nostalgic reasons, but because as our
towns become more and more alike we may yet need a few old towns for
seed.
ROBERT F. HASWELL

NOTES
, This premise was first enunciated in English by the father of American cultural geography,
Carl Sauer in his 1925 classic paper "The Morphology of Landscape", reprinted in Leighly,
J. (Ed.) Land and Life (1963). Sauer's dictum that "a cultural landscape is fashioned out of
a natural landscape by a culture group. Culture is the agent, the nature landscape the me­
dium and the cultural landscape the result" (Leighly. 1963. p. SS). does however have an­
tecedents in European cultural geography e.g. Friedrich Ratzel's "in der Landschaft pragt
ein Volk sein Geistiges und seine Schicksale cin. wie in seine SHidte and Hauser" Helmolt,
H. (Ed.) Kleine Schriften von Friedrich Ratzel (1906, p. 128) which can be translated as: a
people expresses itself through its landscape just as it does through its towns and houses; or,
as De La Blache, the founder of modern French geographl put it "at length (a region) be­
comes, as it were. a medal struck in the likeness of a people" (De La B1ache, P. V., Tableau de la
geographie de la France. 1903, p. 8).
, Thompson's plan (See: G. Thompson: Graaff-Reinet 1823 - Reproduced in Colburn, H.
(Ed.) Travels and Adve!lfllreS in Southern Africa. Cape Town: Van Riebeeck Society, 1967.)
contains an interesting blemish: a scale line in Rhineland Yards - a unit not used in Rhine­
land measure. If Roods (12 Rhincland feet) are substituted on this scale line then the plan is
scale correct. It appears therefore that Thompson was unfamiliar with the Rood and as­
sumed that the abbreviation Rds. for Roods stood for Yds. or Yards.
32 Voortrekker Dorps of Natal

1 Note that as a result of the erven extending from street to street, and because the occupants
wanted their houses to face each other, rows of H~te-a-tete houses occur only along alternate
long streets. Certain streets were therefore only a row of trees, and appropriately named
Boomstraat (a street of trees), whereas a street lined by houses. and therefore far more con­
ducive to conversations, was a Loopstraat (a street to walk down).
4 The eminent Natal historian Hattersley noted "it is conceivable that the site had been
selected by Retief himself" (Hatterslcy, A.F., Pietermaritzburg Panorama, 1938, p. 14), but
did not elaborate or substantiate.
5 "Four hundred wagons were en route to the site where the new town will be laid out in
Natal. The town is sited in a well-chosen valley one day's journey from the Bay."
6 Smit is the source for attributing the dorp's composite name to Pieter Retief and Gerrit Mar­
itz. However the name used for several years in the minutes of the Volksraad is Pieter Mau­
ritz Burg - three words, the first two of which were Retief's christian names. Initially then
it appears as if the dorp was, not surprisingly in view of his leading role, named solely after
Retief. In October 1843 Pieter Mauritz Burg became Pietermaritzburg in the Volksraad
minutes. 1.C. Voight in his Fijiy rears of the History of the Republic in South Africa
(1795-1845) Vol. n, (1899) states that the name was changed in order to honour Maritz as
well, which seems likely. but there is no reference to this at all in the Volksraad minutes.
7 Pietermaritzburg is thus the oldest Voortrekker dorp as although a settlement had begun to
grow in the vicinity of Potchefstroom in 1838, a fully-fledged dorp was not laid out until
1841 . and then a new site was used.
8 The minutes of the Volksraad meeting which laid down erven dimensions for Natal arc in­
dexed but missing. However in February 1842 the Volksraad responded favourably to a re­
quest for the laying out of a dorp alongside the Elands River, present day Orange Free
State, and specified 450 by 150 Rhineland feet erven (South African Archival Records,
Natal No. 1, 1958,p.141).
9 "Dwelling houses are to be built at the front of an erf and in a single line, as will be pointed out
by a qualified person."
W There is reference in the Volksraad minutes to the sending of the plan of Pietermaritzburg
to Cape Town for lithographic purposes (South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1,
1958, pp. 210-211).
" The half block of five erven at the western or top end of Pietermaritzburg does not appear
in Figure b as Article 1 of the dorp regulations specify that each original block contained ten
en·en.
" I cannot account for the separation of Dutch Reformed Churches from their cemeteries. In
both early Cape Town and Stellenbosch coffins were placed in vaults within the wall which
enclosed the church ground. In Tulbagh graves are to be found within the churchyard but
this was not the case in the Voortrekker dorps. I suspect that the Dutch Reformed practice
of not bringing corpses into the church, which must have a theological explanation, facili­
tated the separation of church and cemetery and this became the norm in South African
towns.
'3 The minutes of the Volksraad meetings of the 6th January through to 29th February 1840
have been lost, but the index suggests that developments at the Bay were discussed during
these meetings (South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1,1958, p. 30).
'4 Both Pietermaritzburg and Utrecht were laid-out at the foot of escarpments which su~gests
that ecological conditions, probably veld types. influenced their general location, and Irriga­
tion potential their specific sites.
'5 "A number of close neighbouring farms."

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BURCHELL, W.J. (1824) Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. Two Volumes, London:
Longman, Hurst, Rees. Facsimile Reprint, Cape Town: Struik, 1967.
BURKE, G.L. (1956) The Making of Dutch To~,·ns. London: Cleaver-Hume Press.
CACHET, F. Lion (1898) De Worstelstrijd der Transvalers. Hdveker & Warmser: Pretoria, 3rd
Ed.,1898.
CHRISTOPHER. Al. (1976) Southern Africa. Folkestone, Kent: W. Dawson & Sons.
COLVIN, L (1912) Cape of Adventure. London: Jack.
CORY, G.E. (1926) The Rise of South Africa. Two Volumes. London: Longmans, Green &
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GOETZSCHE, E. (1966) The Father of a City. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter.
HATTERSLEY, A.F. (Ed.) (1945) John Shedden Dobie: South African Journal. Cape Town:
Van Riebeeck Society.
Voortrekker Dorps of Natal 33

HATTERSLEY, A.F. (1938) Pietermaritzburg Panorama. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and

Shooter.
HOLDEN, W.e. (1855) History of lhe Colony of Nalal. London, Heylin. Facsimile Reprint,
Cape Town: Struik, 1963 .
.fANSEN, E.Ci. (1938) Die Voortrekkers in Natal. Cape Town: Nasionale Pers.
MANN, R.l. (IS59) The Colony of Natal. London: larrold and Sons.
PRELLER, G.S. (1937) Andries Pretorius. Johannesburg: Afrikaanse Pers.
RUSSELL, G. (IS99) The History of Old Durban. Durban: P. Davis & Sons.
RUSSELL, R. (1911) Natal: The Land and its SlOt\'. Twelfth Edition, Pietermaritzburg: P.
Davis & Sons.
SCHOON, H.F. (Ed.), (1972) The Diary of Erasmus Smil. Cape Town: C. Struik.
SOUTH AFRICAN ARCHIVAL RECORDS (1958) Natal No, 1 Nowle van die Natalse
Volksraad (lS38-1S45). Cape Town: The Government Printer.
THEAL, G.M. (1892) History of South Africa. from 1795 to 1872. Vol. 6, Fourth Edition
(1915), London: George Alien and Unwin.

NAT C
34

The Opening of the Railway

Between Durban

and Pietermaritzburg

-100 Years Ago

The inauguration of the railway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on

December 1, 1880, was an occasion of great ceremony and festivity. Not
only did the event represent the completion of the first major work of engin­
eering in NataL but also marked the first instalment of the main railway to
the interior. The 70 mile stretch of railway was built in just under five years;
but it was by no means a simple undertaking, as the work of levelling the
track-bed and excavating the cuttings was done entirely by hand with pick
and shovel. Although the general physical features of the countryside be­
tween Durban and Pietermaritzburg did not pose any abnormal construc­
tional difficulties - if compared with those encountered on the routes
through the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, or the Andes - the railway engi­
neers were nevertheless faced with a formidable task of locating a track site
on the undulating terrain with the small amount of capital subscribed to the
undertaking. Consequently, the line was engineered to avoid extensive
earthworks, major bridges and long tunnels by following a sinuous course
that was beset by strenuous grades and severe curvature. Over a consider­
able part of its length the average curvature per mile was 360 degrees and a
train accordingly turned a full circle for every mile it travelled over the line.
The maximum permissible speed on this tortuous alignment was 15 m.p.h.,
and it is not surprising. then. that the arduous train journey between Dur­
ban and Pietermaritzburg in 1RRO took as long as six hours and 14 minutes to
accomplish.

The Building of the Line

Plans for building a railway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg were first
formulated in 1862, but it was not until lR73 that a detailed survey was made
which delineated the route the Natal Main Line would follow. l The initial
stage of railway construction in Natal provided for 105 miles of track com­
prising a 78 mile section of Main Line from Durban to Pietermaritzburg and
two branch lines to the North and South of the port. Conditions and specifi­
cations for the proposed railway system and the articles of the contract were
contained in the Natal Government Railways Law, 1875. 2 The provisional
contract, subject to the approval and confirmation by the Legislature of
Natal, was signed in London on June 13, 1875. The signatories were rep­
resentatives of the Crown Agents for the Colonies, acting on behalf of the
Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, and Messrs. George Wythes and John Jack­
son, contractors for public works. In the specifications of the contract it was
stipulated that all lines were to adopt a gauge of 3 ft. 6 ins., the weight of
Opening of the Railway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg 35

the rails to be 40 Ibs to the yard and were to be spiked in lengths of 21ft. to
at least 2 000 creosoted sleepers per mile. No curve was to be of a shorter
radius than 300 feet and no gradient be steeper than 1 in 30.' Of the total
contract value of £899 037, the estimated cost of building the section be­
tween Durban and Pietermaritzburg was £606 749 or £7 778 per mile. To
meet the cost of construction. legislation was introduced to authorise the
raising of a £] 200 000 loan on the London money market. 4
Construction work was initiated in Durban on New Year's Day, 1876,
with a ceremony, as was the custom of the times, to mark the turning of the
first sod. The ceremonial act was performed by Sir Henry Bulwer, then
Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, at a site' 011 the intersection of Pine Terrace
and Grey Street. 6 On Feburary 15, 1876, the railway contract was ratified
and from that date the contractors were bound to complete the main line as
far as Pinetown by August 15, 1878, and throughout to Pietermaritzburg by
February 15, 1880. 7 The two most prominent engineers concerned with the
building operations were the consulting engineer for the contractors. Armt
Browning C.E.,k who had supervised the preliminary survey in 1873, and the
Resident Engineer for the Natal Government Railways, William Ridlcy
M.I.C.E.,9 who arrived in Natal from England in March 1876 accompanied
by six civil engineers. On April L 1876, the Acteae, \0 a barque of 300 tons,
arrived in Durban with the first 100 labourers recruited on Mauritius to
work on the construction of the railways.ll By the end of June, 1876. the
earthworks had been completed for the first four miles, the stone founda­
tions had been laid for the bridge over the Umbilo River and work was pro­
gressing to the 9th mile peg. At the Pietermaritzburg end, the route had
been finalised from the 63rd mile peg (Fox Hill) and the line had been
staked out to the proposed terminus at the base of Camp Hill. 12 Early in
November, 1876, the rails had been laid down Pine Terrace and along the
Bay to the approaches of the Umbilo River Bridge while work had com­
menced in Pietermaritzburg with the levelling of the track bed from the ter­
minus towards the bridge site for the crossing of the Umsindusi River.
On January 1. 1877. the Natal Government formally acquired the Natal
Railway Company which operated six miles of railway between the Point
and the Umgeni River. 13 This railway14 was built to the 4ft. 8!ins. gauge, but
with the introduction of the narrower, 3ft. 6ins. gauge as the standard for
the railways in Natal, a new track-bed was built alongside the existing for­
mation and by February, 1877, the rails had been laid from the Point to the
station on the Market Square. The first two locomotives i) ordered by the
contractors, the "Maritzburg" and the "Durban" were landed at the Point
on February 1,16 and on March 22, 1877, respectively.17 Since both loco­
motives were designed to burn wood fuel, tenders were called for the supply
of firewood in quantities of ten tons of blue gum and ten tons of thornwood
per month.
On August 23. 1877. the bridge over the Umbilo River, consisting of two
spans of 40 ft each and a centre span of 100 ft, was successfully tested,ik and
two weeks later. a trial run was made with one of the engines over the tortu­
ous alignment to the 8th mile post. The first shipment of rolling stock for the
Natal Government Railways, comprising two locomotives,19 ten passenger
carriages and thirty open goods trucks, was landed at the Point on Decem­
ber 14, 1877.
36 Opening of the Railway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg

Early in January 1878, the rails reached the 13th mile post while the
earthworks had advanced to the vicinity of Botha's Hill and were also pro­
gressing for 16 miles near Pietermaritzburg. The next major bridge of im­
portance to be completed was that over the Umbilo River near Pinetown
and to celebrate the event, a special train with 50 passengers from Durban
traversed the structure for the first time on February 9, 1878. 20 Although the
new line between the Point and the Market Square Station was opened to
goods traffic by the middle of February, passengers were conveyed on the
old 4 ft 8i in. railway until May 11, 187821 when the changeover to the nar­
row gauge line was made thus ending 18 years of broad gauge operation in
Natal. The official opening of the 16~ mile section from Durban to Pine­
town took place on September 4, 1878, without a formal ceremony and
apart from several senior railway officials, the inaugural train carried only
six fare-paying passengers!22 There were two trains operating daily in each
direction. However, the service brought forth such strong criticism from the
public regarding the inconvenient times of departure and arrival that six
weeks after the introductory service to Pinetown had been in operation, the
time table was amended and an additional train was run daily. The first
serious accident, involving the loss of the lives of two passengers, occurred
near Pine town on December 26, 1878, when five trucks were derailed. 23
With the start of the war in Zululand in January 1879, the demands of the
War Department had priority in the railway service and this situation hin­
dered the transport of materials required for the building of the line. On
March 24, 1879, the services of the main line were extended by 141 miles
with the opening to Botha's Hill, but the service was restricted to 1st and
2nd class passengers and the conveyance of military equipment until June,
when the Railways Department announced that this section of the line was
prepared to "carry wool, skin and other Colonial produce".
The earthworks between Botha's Hill and Inchanga were particularly
heavy and in view of the difficulty of finding suitable building stone in the
vicinity, it was decided to substitute the larger masonry structures with iron
girder bridges. There were nine structures of this kind required, the largest
was situated between mile posts 38 and 39 and consisted of seven spans of 81
feet each and towered 90 feet above the bed of the stream.24 In addition to
the sinuous location work there were 9 smaller masonry bridges and 22 cul­
verts and a short tunnel, 172 feet in length, over a track distance of 7 miles.
Work on the erection of the iron girder bridges commenced in February
1879.
To avoid any further delays in the laying of track towards Pietermaritz­
burg, the contractors carted the rails and a ten ton locomotive ahead over
the main road to the construction site near Camperdown. With the comple­
tion of all nine viaducts at the end of March 1880, the most difficult section
of the line was finally overcome. The contractors' engine, the "Ulundi", was
the first to cross the viaducts on July 10, 1880. 25 Nearly two months later, on
October 1, the 16i mile section from Botha's Hill to Camperdown was de­
clared open to traffic with two passenger trains operated daily in each direc­
tion. The rails reached the Pietermaritzburg yard on October 21, 1880 and
the contractors arranged a small ceremony to mark the arrival of the first
train at 5 p.m. 26 Lady Colley was invited to board the locomotive at the Um­
sindusi Bridge while the Mayor of Pietermaritzburg, NGR officials and rep­
Opening of the Railway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg 37

resentatives of the contractors took their seats in one of the open trucks.
Within a few minutes the train reached its destination "amid the loud cheers
of a group of bystanders" Y All that remained now was the ballasting of the
newly laid section and the formal opening was expected to take place on
November 15, 1~80. Early in November, however, rainy weather set in
which caused subsidences and wash-aways at several places along the line as
well as a spate of derailments. By the third week in November the line had
been repaired and the official opening was announced for December 1,
1880.

The Inaugural Train 28

Wednesday, December 1, dawned a bright, blue, bracing day after several
weeks of intermittent rainy weather. Great preparations had been made by
the residents of Pietermaritzburg to celebrate the arrival of the inaugural
train from Durban. Many buildings in the centre of the town were decorated
with banners depicting railway scenes and Church Street was lined with
tlags. Although the special train was not due to arrive until shortly before
1.30 p.m., a crowd of about 1 200 townspeople had already gathered at 10
a.m. on the Market Square where a banner display was presented by school
children. After the display everyone was treated to refreshments and
"within a short space of time" 2 500 buns, 600 oranges, 80 Ibs of sweets and an
"incalculable" amount of ginger beer was consumed. Shortly before midday
the townspeople assembled in front of the Town Hall and at about 12.15 a
procession, about one mile long, moved slowly along Church Street towards
the station. The order of the procession, according to the official programme,
was the following:
Military Band (60th Ritles). Children of all schools (four abreast), from St.
Charles' School, St. Saviour's, First Presbyterian School, S1. John's Pres­
byterian School. Cadet Corps, High School, Wesleyan School, the Drill
Shed School, St. Peter's School, Congregational School. Good Templars,
Rechabites, Foresters, the Oddfellows, the Clergy, Officers of the Civil
Service, Police Force, the Town Council, Mayor and the Clerk, Speaker and
Members of the Legislative Council, Fire Engine, the Maritzburg Ritles,
Natal Carbineers, the General Public. (The only conspicuous absentees from
the procession were the Natal Carbineers who were going into camp at the
time.)
Meanwhile at Durban Station a large crowd of townspeople had gathered
on the platform at 7.30 that morning to witness the departure of the special
train to Pietermaritzburg. The train was composed of Kitson Engine No. 12
with driver Hayes and stoker Jackson, five new carriages and a brake van.
There were between 80 and 90 invited guests on board, the most prominent
being the Mayor of Durban, seven Town Councillors, the Town Clerk, the
Resident Magistrate, the Port Captain, the General Manager of the NG R as
well as senior railway officials and representatives of the contractors. The
train departed at 7.54 a.m. (four minutes late) and proceeded at walking
pace along Pine Terrace to West End Station, then rattled across the Con­
gella Flats to Umbilo where a short stop was made. Immediately after leav­
ing South Coast Junction the train encountered the first of numerous 1 in 30
inclines, this particular section of the line being named "Jacob's Ladder".
Bellair Station was reached at 8.21 a.m. and after a four minute halt, the
 Opcning of the Railway between Durban and Pietermarirzburg

train continued past Malvern and Northdene and arrived at Pinetown Bridge
at 8.55 a.m. where the water tanks of the locomotive were replenished.
Pinetown was reached at 9.07 a.m. and a short stop for refreshments was
made. So far a rise of 1 072 feet was achieved in 12 miles and, after leaving
Pinetown, the train negotiated the steep climb around Field's Hill where a
further 573 ft in altitude was gained in four miles. At milepost 29 the loco­
motive had to replenish its watertanks yet again. Thereafter the train con­
tinued along the increasingly tortuous alignment on a precarious location at
the side of a high cliff with a commanding view of the Valley of a Thousand
Hills. Botha's Hill was reached at lO.09 a.m. and the passengers were al­
lowed ten minutes for refreshments at the canteen on the Station. The sum­
mit was passed at milepost 33 on an altitude of 2 444 ft. Thereafter the train
made its way through the only tunnel on the line and then descended on the
sinuous route to the Inchanga Viaduct. A further steep climb followed
which brought the line to an elevation of 2 425 ft. at milepost 42. The train
pulled in at Camperdown Station at 11.30 a.m. where two tables laden with
food and drink had been placed on the platform and passengers were
allowed 17 minutes to take in the refreshments. The highest elevation be­
tween Durban and Pietermaritzburg was crossed near milepost 58 (3 054 ft.)
and thereafter a 1 000 ft. descent in 11 miles brought the line to the Umsin­
dusi River Bridge. At 12.32 the train passed through Richmond Road and
only stopped H miles further on at a tank so that the locomotive could take
on water. As it turned out, several passengers were given an unexpected
soaking when water from the feeder pipe spurted into the carriages as the
train moved on. At 1.36 p.m., ten minutes behind schedule, the historic
train arrived at Pietermaritzburg Station.
About 3 000 people had gathered at the station and as the distant whistle
of the engine was heard. the crowds moved forward to catch the first
glimpse of the train. As the train came into view fog signals were detonated
and the Military Band struck up with "See the Conquering Hero Comes".
There was loud cheering as the train came to a halt next to the platform
where the Governor of Natal, Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley
and the Mayor of Pietermaritzburg, Councillor Kershaw, stepped forward to
greet the distinguished guests from Durban.
The Mayor of Pietermaritzburg opened the ceremony with the presenta­
tion of an address to the Governor, to which his Excellency replied. Lady
Colley was then presented with a hasket of fruit and a bouquet of flowers by
the Mayoress and Ladies of Pietermaritzburg. The Mayor of Durban, Coun­
cillor Arbuckle, then read his address and the Governor also gave a short
response. Thereafter, Sir George stepped to the edge of the platform and in
a stentorian voice declared the railway open, followed by loud cheering and
several ear-splitting blasts from the whistle of the locomotive. A song, spe­
cially composed for the occasion, was then performed by the school chil­
dren. 29 Following the exchange of compliments between the two corpora­
tions of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the National Anthem was sung and
the procession was re-formed. A special luncheon was served in the engine
shed for the 200 invited guests with many speeches, toasts and glowing trib­
utes to those who had been responsible for the planning and building of the
line.
Meanwhile, the procession had moved to Alexandra Park where refresh­
Opening of the Railway between Durban and Pietermarilzburg 3Y

ments were provided for the children. The City Minstrels presented the mu­
sical entertainment and athletic sports were held for both the children and
the adults. In the evening the festivities culminated in a giant fireworks dis­
play on the Market Square.
The line from Durban to Pietermaritzburg was opened to passenger and
parcel traffic as from December 2, 1880/° limited to one train daily in each
direction, and to all traffic as from March 1, 1881. As a result of the devi­
ations to the original survey the length of the railway between Durban and
Pietermaritzburg was shortened by Tt miles and the final distance was 71
miles I 421 ft.
BRUNO MARTIN

NOTES
, This survey was carried out in connection with a scheme initially put forward ill 1869 by
Joseph Welborne. It was to provide Natal with a system of 34'i miles of railways. (An un­
published M.A. thesis by Cox, G.A.S., Railway development be[)\-'een Durban and Pieter­
marilzburg, 1865-1880. deals with this scheme and others that appeared during the 1860s
and early 1870s in detail.)
2 Law No. 4 of 1875: Law to empower the Lieutenant-General to make, maintain, equip and
work certain Railways in the Colony of Natal, and to confirm a Provisional Contract entered
into for the Construction of the same.
3 Where the ruling gradient was combined with the sharpest permissible curves the gradient
was equivalent to I in 24.4 on the straight.
, Law No. 5 of 1875: Law to raise a loan for the Construction and Equipment of certain Rail­
wavs in the Colonv of Natal.
The site representing the Zero point of the survey.
o Natal Mercury, January 2, 1876.
7 In terms of the contract a penalty of £150 per week would be levied for non-completion of
the various sections within the dates specified.
8 Arrot Browning, a civil engineer, had been associated with the building of railways in
England, Mauritius and Spain and canal construction in India.
9 William Ridley, a civil engineer, had been associated with the building of railways in India,
Spain, the United States of America and Mauritius.
'" The Acteae was chartered by Browning for the recruitment of Indians from Mauritius.
" Natal Mercury, April!. 1876.
" Natal Witness, Mav 5, 18711.
13 Law No. 6 of 1875: Law to provide for the taking over by the Colonial Government of the
Lines of Railw1Y between the Point and the Town of Durban, and between the Town of
Durban and the River Umgeni.
14 The Natal Railway Company was formed on February 28, 1859 on a nominal capital of
£10000 and opened the first scheduled train service in South Africa on June 26, 1860. The
railway operated between the Market Square and the Point, Durban and was 1J miles in
length.
" These diminutive tank locomotives were manufactured by Beyer, Peacock and Co., of Man­
chester, England. Each developed a tractive effort of 9800 Ibs. and weighed 25 tons 8 cwl.
16 Natal Mercury, February 8, 1877.
17 Natal Mercury, March 22,1877.
18 Natal Mercury. August 25, 1877.
19 The first locomotives for the NGR were also ordered from Beyer, Peacock and Co., and
were of similar design to those employed by the contractors.
Natal Mercury, February 13, 1878.
" Natal Mercury, May 13, 1878.
Natal Mercury, September 5, 1878.
" Natal Mercury, December 27,1878.
'" Report upon the progress of the works on the Natal Government Railways, June 1878.
25 Natal Mercury, July 12, 1880.

26 Natal Witness, October 22, 1880.

27 The bystanders on the platform were the Colonial Secretary, the Colonial Treasurer, several

Members of the Legislative Council and many leading residents.

" The event as described by the reporters of the Natal Mercury, Natal Witness and Natal Mer­
cantile Advertiser on December 2 & 3, 1880.
40 Opening of the Railway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg

'0 The song specially composed for the occasion of the opcning of the railway between Durban
and Pietermaritzburg by Stephen Stranack:
Hail this happy festal day.

Now with one accord we pray

Heavenlv Father. hear and bless,

Crown (lur labours with success.

Children loud your praises raise

In a grateful song of praise.

Finish now the work of vears;

Give the steam-horse ri(lging cheers.

Countless blessings shall appear,

Following his advent here.

Coast and Midlands joined at length,

Unity shall give us strength.

30 Time table: Durban dep. 12.20 p.m. Pietermaritzburg arr. 6.34 p.m.
Pietcrmaritzburg dep. 12.00 p.m. Durban arr. 5.46 p.m.
Fares: Single journey 1st Class: 17s 9d, 2nd Class: lis 9d. 3rd Class: 6s.
Return journey 1st Class: 26s 9d, 2nd Class: 17s 9d.
 ~
Natal Gover1:lmen~Railways
Opening throughout, for Passenger Traffic,
0)' THE

MLUN LINE TO PIETEIUIAIUTZnURG,

ON

THURSDAY, 2nd DEC" 1880.

The Pllblio ia reaprctfnlly informed thdt the Main r.ioe --;'ill be op ned tl!rougbc.ut for

Paaseuger and Parcel Traffic bel ~·t en

DTJRBAN AND PIETERMARITZSURG

On Thursday, the 2nd December, 1880.

For the pre,ent, the Train Service will b"! limited to one Dailg Train each way,
AS UIIDEIt:­

TO PIETDKAlUTZBtmG: Fa.res from Durban to Pietermaritzburg,

and vice-versa:­
P.II.
Durban - dep. 12.20 SINGLE JOURNEY.
Pietermaritzburg a.rr. 6.34 ht Ch a... 211c1 Cln~8. 3rd CIA SR.
TO DURBAN: 17s.9d. lls.9d. 61.
~oo~.
RETURN JOURNEY.
Pietermaritzburg dep. 12.0 f,t ClasA. 2nd ClnR~.
Durba.n _ . a.rr. 5.46 2Gs.9d. 17~. 9d.
For "Iterations consoqucnt opon thc above Bond minor obangt 8, 8 .. 0 Tiwe 1'1~bl. s
e.l.hil:ited at the Statiou~.

GOODS & GENERAL TRAFFIC.

The Date oJ Openillg Jor Goods and G(meral Traffic to Pietermaritzburg will be
subsequently announced; in the meantime, Goods Traffic will contillue to be conveyed
to and from Camperdown.

REVISED GOODS CLASSIFICATION & SCALE OF RATES.

On 1st December, 1880, a Revised Goods Clas.,ification and Scale of Ra tes applicable
g8Jlerallg to all Stations will be brol'Uht into operation, and eha'lgcs will be made in
Season Ticket and other Rates. Full particulars of the Rates will be given in prilltcrl
Notices exhibited at the various Stations.­
DAVID HUNTER, General Manager.
Dnrban, November, 1880. 817.n

The Natal Witness, November 30, 1880

 B. MARTIN
The route of the old Natal main line at Inchanga showing the location of the viaduct and the deviation built in 1892. The viaduct was finally dismantled in
1897. Some of the spans were used on the Richmond and Grey town branch lines.
 NATAL MAIN LINE DURBAN - PIETERMARITZBURG SECTION

;
1 .r
A/lihMiIIlwt: ~

~l ~
lODa
;~ i '. ! ~

2a••
5~~
E ----------~--
=-­ -~ I f
la••
- NGR Melft UIII 70',," mila (113 kill) RULING GRADIENT 1 in 30. ullCam........... far 300 fl. minimum rldll,I' tlMS
= Pmern MIIn !Jilt 65% .... 008 kill) RUUNG GRADIENT 1 In 18 . .!Ill, 1 in 175 .. COIJl corn~ ivf 495 ft. ...M.. rllliua tufWI
"''-1/ ~~I
. . . ,,_ 0.... 1 la I. la SI la 45 40 31 31 11 .!

LE GEND
NGR Main line. 1880
• • StatiDn. &hilts, 1&80
o Additional stations & halts
Urnl.ls Road - Pentrich deviation
[1919 - 1965 [
",_",11;
Present Main line

e=,;=!=;==;,,=;==',~ mile.
;
w+( )+E
'•"
('\------/ ~;(,"­~

" MARTIN, AIJSUST 1110

The arrival of the inaugural train at Pietermaritzburg Station on December 1, 1880 at 1.36 p.m.
With grateful acknowledgment to the University of Natal Library (presented by Lt.-Col. K.H. Wallis)
The Inchanga Viaduct (567 ft.), completed in March 1880
With grateful acknowledgment to the Natal Archives, Pietermaritzburg
 41

Special Collections of

the Natal Society Library

Only a very small percentage of the 25 000 members of the Natal Society are
aware of the tremendous wealth of the library's collection. Most are aware
of the Lending and Reference areas on the ground and first floor from
which they borrow adult or children's books for home-reading, or where
they come to obtain information for school projects, business, or merely to
assist in the completion of crossword puzzles. A smaller number actually vis­
its the second floor where the music collection is housed, but very few are
aware that on the third floor of the library building the Special Collections
can be found.

W.J. O'Brien Collection

Principal among the Special Collections is the O'Brien collection of books
which was bequeathed to the Society from the estate of the late Dr W.J.
O'Brien. Or O'Brien was well-known in Pietermaritzburg. Having arrived in
1878, he served in the Natal Light Horse in the Anglo-Zulu War. Af­
terwards he became a draper in Pietermaritzburg but in 1888 set himself up
as an accountant. He was a City Councillor at the time of the South African
War, Mayor in 1903-1904, a tremendous benefactor, whose contributions to
Pietermaritzburg are remembered in the W.]. O'Brien Hall of Residence at
the University as well as at Collegiate School, and he was a member of the
Natal Society Council for very many years.
Further biographical details of this important figure in the history of
Pietermaritzburg, can be found in the third volume of the Dictionary of
South African Biography.
The W.]. O'Brien collection is housed in a special room which has been
furnished and fitted in the style of a Victorian/Edwardian gentleman'S li­
brary. The collection itself clearly shows the wide literary interests of Dr
O'Brien, and one can see that he was a bibliophile with sufficient resources
to indulge his interests. Indeed, like any private library, it is a reflection of
the character of the owner.
In the O'Brien collection there is a complete set of the Anglo-Saxon Re­
view, published from June 1899 to September 1901, by Lady Randolph
Spencer Churchill, Sir Winston's mother. This publication came out quar­
terly. Each edition had a different embossed-leather binding, and contained
articles written by authorities of the time on literary subjects, and printed on
hand-made paper. The publication is certainly a collector's item, and some­
thing which the Natal Society Library is inordinately proud to possess.
Very near by is a copy of J.C. Smuts's Holism and Evolution, in which the
author has inscribed the following message: "My friend W.]. O'Brien, with
kindest regards from J.c. Smuts. 1926." Both Smuts and O'Brien served to­
gether in Parliament, and it is known that Smuts stayed with Dr O'Brien
when he visited Pietermaritzburg on occasions.
42 Special Collections of the Natal Society Library

Another autographed publication in the library is the life of Sam Camp­

bell told in verse and lettered by his daughter Ethel Campbell, sister of the
well-known South African poet, Roy. The book was published privately for
her father's friends and the inscription reads: "To the Honourable Dr W.J.
O'Brien, with best wishes from the writer, E.C." It is dated the 28th August
1951.
O'Brien had an eye for Africana. In his collection is a de luxe edition of
Volumes I and 11 of Burchell's Travels in Southern Africa, published in
1822. Also published the same year, and in the O'Brien collection, is the
Rev John Campbell's Travels in South Africa, undertaken at the request of
the London Missionary Society; being a narrative of a second journey in the
interior of that country. Both books are beautifully illustrated with coloured
prints, and together with Latrobe's Journal of a visit to South Africa in 1815
and 1816, (published in 1818), form an important contribution to our knowl­
edge of South Africa at that time. The illustrations in these works and the
quality of the paper and the binding, make them a joy to handle.
But O'Brien was not interested only in Africana. He had a tremendous
collection of books on the history of the Peninsular War. There is the six­
volume set on that subject, by Col. W.F.P. Napier, c.B., as well as the five­
volume publication by Charles Oman, who was Deputy Professor of Modern
History at the University of Oxford. One can see that the Peninsular War
and the Napoleonic Wars were of great interest to W.J. O'Brien. He had
several books about Napoleon Bonaparte including the memoirs of Con­
stant, the Emperor Napoleon's head valet. Other works on the period in­
clude two books by Thomas Carlyle on the French Revolution, the memoirs
of Madame du Barri, and the memoirs of Marie Antoinette.
Being a political man, W.J. O'Brien had many books on political figures
of his, and earlier, times such as Joseph Chamberlain, Disraeli, Bismarck, as
well as classical historical works such as Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire, and Grote's History of Greece. The Americans too, are not
neglected and the collection includes Woodrow Wilson's five-volume His­
tory of the American People, and Nicolay Hay's Abraham Lincoln, a history
in ten volumes.
The collection is tremendously rich in other ways too, and it would be
negligent to omit such interesting items as a twelve-volume pig-skin bound
numbered edition of the Memoirs of Jacques Casanova, Boccaccio's Deca­
meron, and the collected works of Balzac, Moliere, Dumas, Dickens,
Hardy, Henry Kingsley (brother of Charles), who wrote about Australian
life, Rudyard Kipling, Andrew Lang, R.L. Stevenson, and Samuel Richard­
son. Strangely, O'Brien had a full collection of the novels of Winston
Churchill. It will be remembered that the Winston Churchill concerned was
not Winston Spencer Churchill, but an American novelist, contemporary of
Winston Spencer Churchill.

The A.F. Hattersley Special Collections Room

Next door to the O'Brien collection is the collection of the Natal Society it­
self, made up of valuable works which have been collected since the Society
was established in 1851. These are housed in the same room as the portion
of Professor Alan Hattersley's collection, which was bequeathed to us. The
room itself is known as the A.F. Hattersley Special Collections Room.
Special Collections of the Natal Society Library 43

The more valuable and interesting items of the Natal Society's Special
Collection starts with the books which were donated by the founding fathers
of the Natal Society, to establish the library. This was the first material way
in which they could show their enthusiasm for the embryonic organisation es­
tablished on that cold May night in 1851. People like Henry Cloete, Donald
Moodie and Robert Moffat, Jnr, all donated books to the Natal Society.
Several of these are still in our Collection, and date back as far as the early
decades of the 17th Century. They are mainly travel books, and some are in
dire need of the attentions of a good antiquarian binder and book restorer.
The Natal Society Library's Special Collection obviously reflects the town,
province and country, in which it exists. It also reflects the times through
which it has passed. Considerable emphasis is therefore given to the works
of Bishop John William Colenso and the controversy surrounding his See in
Natal.
A multi-volume Pictorial History of England is in this Collection. It was
donated to the Natal Society by Prince Alfred, son of Queen Victoria, when
he visited Natal in 1860. Subsequent to that visit, his mother sent auto­
graphed copies of her two books about Balmoral to the Natal Society. Other
aspects of this Special Collection include a wealth of Africana books on
travel and exploration, as that was one of the specific interests of the Natal
Society when it was established. Other interesting odds and ends are also to
be found here. They include an autograph album containing the autographs
of such varied people as Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon
Bonaparte, peers of the Realm, academics, authors, and musicians.
Almost alongside the autograph album and assorted photograph albums
from the turn of the century, is the collection of burial records for the Com­
mercial Road cemeteries, containing a great number of early and well­
known inhabitants of Pietermaritzburg. One or two of these volumes con­
tain the reasons for death of those individuals interred. It is a shattering re­
flection on the medical knowledge of those times, as well as the social life.
Alcohol, venereal disease, and suicide, seemed to have claimed more victims
than is commonly known.
Professor Hattersley's collection, like W.J. O'Brien's collection, reflects
the man himself. Many of the books in this part of his collection are on
Scouting, the history of Britain, and many of his own works on Natal and
Pietermaritzburg history. His bequest has given us some valuable additional
copies of his works which are now out of print. Of particular interest are
those works containing his own jottings and notes.

The Map Collection

Adjoining the Alan F. Hattersley Special Collections Room, is the Map Col­
lection. Most of the maps in this room are those published by the Govern­
ment printer in the 1:50000 series as well as the 1:250000 series on South
Africa. We have a complete collection, as far as we are able to determine.
All maps published in the Republic of South Africa are subject to the
legal deposit legislation of the Copyright Act. Accordingly, a considerable
collection of maps has been built up over the years by the Natal Society Li­
brary. These are often consulted by people going on walking trips in the
Drakensberg, or trying to locate farms and ruins of buildings and kraals.
Road maps, topographical maps, topocadastral as well as maps showing the
44 Special Collections oj the Natal Society Library

vegetation, geology, water resources and population distribution of South

Africa, are all housed in this Collection.
An effort has been made to purchase maps of surrounding territories as
well as of cities in other parts of the world. With the passage of time. other
maps have come into the collection of the Natal Society. British Field Intel­
ligence maps of areas of South Africa put out by the British Army during
the South African war, are to be found in this Collection. In very many
cases these are the first maps ever drawn of areas of South Africa. Cer­
tainly, they give an interesting picture of the towns and country-side at that
time. There is even to be found a military map of the German trenches near
Abbeville during the First World War.
The Collection is arranged according to the latest principles of carto­
graphic librarianship. The Natal Society Library was fortunate to have the
services of Mr Christopher E. Merrett a few years ago, who had specialised
in map librarianship at the University of Sheffield. He arranged our Collec­
tion and added greatly to the maps contained therein by careful and judi­
cious buying. Furthermore, his period spent at the Natal Society Library con­
tributed greatly to a knowledge of South African maps as he developed an
extensive index to the 1:50 000 topographical series, and this index has been
published by the Natal Society. While here. he was also busy on the prepa­
ration of a selected bibliography of Natal maps which has recently been pub­
lished by an American publishing house.
Around the walls of the Map Collection are a number of framed maps,
one of which shows Durban in 1839. It was hand-drawn and painted by an
unknown author and shows the position of Capt Alan Gardiner's house as
well as the residence of Mr Biggar and the laager occupied by the Voortrek­
kers near Umlazi. Another framed map shows the fortifications and military
dispositions around Fort Napier during what was referred to as the "Boer
rebellion of 1899".
Maps are very basic research documents and the contribution which this
Collection can make to academic research, is little realised and even less
used.
* * * * *
Finally. how much of all this is known, and to what extent is this material
used? First of all, because of the value of the books in these Collections.
they are kept locked.
Members wishing to make use of the rooms for study purposes are wel­
come to enquire at the Reference counter. They will then be either issued
with individual books in the Collection. or allowed to sit and work in the
Special Collections rooms themselves. While access by the general public is
restricted, serious researchers and bona fide writers and students are wel­
come to make use of these Collections. The library is very proud of them and
wants them to be used while, at the same time, has a greater responsibility
for their protection and preservation from unscrupulous individuals than
would be the case with materials on the ordinary Reference shelves and in
the Lending Divisions.
It is hoped that the recently instituted tours of the Library, and this arti­
cle, will help to publicize the Collections and stimulate an interest in these
lesser-known and lesser-used parts of the Natal Society Library'S very valu­
able book and map collections.
A.S.C. HOOPER
 45

Reginald Alfred Banks

1890-1980

Reginald Alfred Banks died in July 1980 at the grand age of 90. With his
passing yet another cherished link with the past has been broken, for this
man, the tenth Director of Education in Natal and a man among men,
played a significant role in shaping education in this province during the first
half of this century.
Reginald Banks was not born in the land he was to serve with such dis­
tinction and dedication, but emigrated here with his parents in 1897 when he
was only seven and it had been discovered that he had a weak chest.
Most of his schooldays were spent at Maritzburg College and there he dis­
played many of the outstanding qualities that were to characterise his later
career. He was a good all-round sportsman. He played cricket, was a mem­
ber of the First XV, was Senior Athletics Champion and was Regimental
Sergeant-Major of the cadet corps. In addition to this he was an outstanding
scholar and in 1908, after heading the list of Natal candidates in the inter­
mediate B.A. examination, he was awarded a four-year scholarship to
Cambridge.
At Corpus Christi he read for the Natural Science tripos and was awarded
the B.A. (Hons) in 1912. At this stage he had no thoughts of teaching but
had determined upon a career in the mines and so spent a year preparing
himself by reading such subjects as geology, metallurgy, surveying, and ele­
mentary engineering. However, on his return to South Africa, he found the
mines disrupted by strikes, and phthisis prevalent among miners. Somewhat
deterred, he changed his mind and accepted the offer of a teaching post in
the Natal Education Department. Thus, in September 1913, at the age of 23
he began his teaching career at Newcastle.
Such was the calibre of the man and his work that Mr Banks earned rapid
promotion. Within three years he was headmaster of Utrecht Senior School
and four years later he became headmaster of Merchiston. In 1928 he re­
turned to Northern Natal as headmaster of Dundee Secondary School and
three years later he was appointed Inspector of Schools. In 1940 he became
Chief Inspector and then in 1941 he succeeded Mr F. D. Hugo as Director of
Education.
Mr Banks was Director of Education for nine years until his retirement, in
May 1950, at the age of 60. These were not easy years. The Second World
War and its aftermath created a number of problems, placing the Natal Ed­
ucation Department under considerable strain. The fact that it was able to
operate so smoothly was largely because of the dedication, inspiration and
efficiency of its Director. The principal problems during the war years were
a shortage of staff and grossly inadequate financial resources. Teachers who
volunteered for active service could not be replaced: there were no funds to
keep existing buildings in good repair, let alone to build urgently required
new schools; and the shortage of petrol made it difficult for inspectors to
carry out their duties efficiently.
46 Reginald Alfred Banks

These problems did not end with the cessation of hostilities. Finance re­
mained a problem, proper maintenance of school buildings was still difficult
and new buildings were few and far between. Furthermore, recruitment of
new teachers was not easy and the relationships between teachers and the
administration were not always cordial, especially over questions of salary.
Through all this Mr Banks was able to inspire his staff by his own exem­
plary behaviour, guide the Department safely and efficiently, and even see
its work expand. In those days the Natal Education Department provided
education for all races in the province, involving twice as many pupils and
schools as it controls today. Yet the available resources were inadequate and
both the inspectorate and the administrative staff were much smaller than
now. It is only when this is realised that it is possible to place the achieve­
ments of Mr Banks into perspective.
Despite the difficulties, however, much progress was made in education
under the directorship of Mr Banks. The Natal Education Ordinance of
1942 consolidated previous ordinances and provided, amongst other things,
for free secondary education for pupils in white and coloured schools; for
free primary education for pupils in Indian schools; and for compulsory
school attendance for all coloured children between the ages of 7 and 15
years. The expansion in secondary education for whites, which had been ob­
served when Mr Banks took office, continued apace and by 1948 it was pos­
sible to abolish the Standard 6 Certificate examination and to leave promo­
tion at that level to the schools. Other highlights of Mr Banks's term of
office were undoubtedly the celebrations surrounding the Royal Visit in
1947 and the centenary of education in Natal in 1949. It is also worth record­
ing that he was a member of the Council of the University of South Africa, a
member of both the Council and the Senate of the University of Natal and a
member of the Joint Matriculation Board.
Mr Banks retired after 37 years' service, and it is significant that in the
various tributes to him, people spoke not only of his great ability as an ad­
ministrator but also of his qualities as 'a fine gentleman' who had 'endeared
himself to the teachers of Natal'. It was also a fitting tribute that, two years
after his retirement, the University of Natal should have conferred upon him
an honorary D.Litt degree in recognition of his distinguished service to
education in Natal.
In retirement Mr Banks was almost as active as he had been in service.
For 17 years he served, in a temporary capacity, the Provincial Library Ser­
vices, which he had founded in 1950, after he had retired. Only then, at the
age of 77, did he decide to retire finally.
Mr Banks is undoubtedly one of the outstanding figures in the history of
education in Natal.
G.A. HOSKING
 47

Francis Napier Broome

1891-1980

Frank Broome, who died in his 90th year on the 10th March, 1980, was one
of the most distinguished and revered Natalians of his generation.
He made his mark early. In his final year at Hilton College he passed first
in Natal in the Cape Intermediate examination and this paved the way to the
award of a Rhodes Scholarship. There followed three rewarding years at
Oriel College, Oxford where he obtained a good degree making a special
study of the life and works of the great 18th century political philosopher,
Edmund Burke. Burke's writings had a great influence upon him, and from
then on until the end of his life his speeches were enriched thereby.
On his return to Natal from Oxford, Frank Broome practised as an attor­
ney until the outbreak of the First World War when he took part in the
South West African campaign as a trooper in the Carbineers and when that
was over, journeyed to England, joined the Royal Artillery and fought in
some of the bloodiest battles on the Western Front. For some time he was
Adjutant of an Artillery Regiment and he won the Military Cross. After the
war he resumed practice as an attorney but when the Natal Bar was estab­
lished in 1929 he became a foundation member. As a K. C., he set a stan­
dard of forensic skill and thoroughness in preparation which earned him uni­
versal respect. His distinguished appearance and dignity compelled attention
and his integrity shone forth for all to see. He was in every sense a leader.
In 1938 he became M.P. for Pietermaritzburg District a-nd was in parlia­
ment for the crucial debates which led to the declaration of war against Ger­
many. In the following year a vacancy arose on the Natal Bench and Frank
Broome gave up a very promising political career to become a judge. He
was an immediate success, and his appointment as Judge President in 1950
met with universal satisfaction. When he retired from the Bench in 1961 he
had made his mark as a judge and his excellently phrased judgments which
proceed in persuasive, logical progression with occasional flashes of dry wit,
add distinction to the Law Reports. He conducted himself as a judge with
dignity, patience and courtesy which became something of a legend, as did
his passion for punctuality.
Frank Broome did not, however, confine his energies to the Courts. On
two occasions he presided on the important judicial commission dealing with
Indian property rights and his reports were lucid and produced without de­
lay. He served for many years on the Council of the Natal University and he
repaid his debt to his old school, Hilton College, by serving as Chairman of
the Board of Governors for a very long period, successfully resolving prob­
lems that inevitably arose from time to time. He gave expression to his love
of Natal's mountains and wild life by becoming an energetic member of the
Natal Parks Board. He never spared himself in promoting anything which he
conceived to be for the general good: he was a man of the widest interests
who possessed rare precision of thought which he expressed in admirable,
48 Francis Napier Broome

unadorned English. This oratorial skill was a by-word. He put much thought
and care into the preparation of his speeches and yet managed to deliver
them in an effortless way which made it appear that his words were quite
spontaneous. He was always listened to with respect and interest, and his
words carried great weight. If ever he interested himself in a cause his im­
pact was considerable.
His autobiography, Not the Whole Truth, is a well-told account of a life of
achievement, and with the passing of the years will become valuable source
material for anyone delving into the political and social history of Natal dur­
ing the period it covers.
Frank Broome was sometimes regarded as being a reserved man but to
anyone fortunate enough to earn his friendship he displayed a generosity of
spirit, a warm humanity and a genuine concern for one's welfare which was
unforgettable. His long life was rich in achievement and he experienced
great joys and also great sorrows. He endured the latter with uncompromis­
ing stoicism and whatever fate had in store for him, whether good or bad, he
remained true to himself with his courage, dignity and humanity unim­
paired. He was a man of stature and throughout his life he served his coun­
try and his friends with devotion and abiding affection.
NEVILLE ] AMES

Alexander Petrie

1881-1979
He must have been the best-known nonagenarian in Pietermaritzburg - a
kenspeckle figure [that may be easily recognised; remarkable in appear­
ance - Editor] in his own Presbyterian church, in the Victoria Club, at Uni­
versity of Natal celebrations, at St Andrew's Day dinners of the Caledonian
Society, and of course everywhere in the streets of the capital. For his age,
too, he was undoubtedly the most genial personality for miles around, with
a collection of jokes that in due course percolated-so good were they-to
almost every social stratum in the town.
My first meeting with him came about as a result of a need to contact a
friend or contemporary of R.D. Clark (famous headmaster of Maritzburg
College, 1879-1902). I wanted Professor Petrie to write an article about his
friendship with Clark who had died in 1917. During our talk at the Victoria
Club the professor sat quietly listening to my plea, the only sign of aware­
ness being a slight flicker of his eyes as he listened to my Scottish accent.
From this casual meeting there came about a friendship despite the fact that
he gently refused to write the article.
R.A. BANKS
Photograph: The Naral Witness, Pietermaritzburg

F.N. BROOME
Photograph : The Natal Witness. Pietermaritzburg

A. PETRIE
Photograph: The Natal Witness, Pietermaritzburg
Alexander Petrie 49

What developed instead was a mutual interest based on Dr Jamieson's

famous Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language which first ap­
peared in 1808 with further revised editions in 1825, 1846, and 1867, culmi­
nating in a grand 1880 edition of five large octavo volumes, now a collector's
piece. The five volumes had been given to me by an elderly Scottish friend.
Among the scores of ancient Scottish words there were some that particu­
larly appealed to him. One was burdalane, an old word from the Maitland
MSS "used to denote one who is the only child left in a family; a bird alone,
or solitary ... "
Another was the infinitive gar, to cause, force, or make as in the term
"That'll gar ye greet". Also to chap meaning to knock or tap as "to chap at
the door."
Then there was hantle meaning a considerable number, for example "a
hantle 0' siller", derived from the Swedish "antal or handtal", that which
may be counted by the hand.
The professor seemed to derive considerable pleasure from searching the
close-packed columns of Jamieson's Dictionary for old words heard in his
childhood nearly a century previously.
In addition there were his jokes and witticisms, so good that over the
years they were remembered and quoted by public speakers. I know one re­
tired businessman who has a considerable collection of 'Petrieana' on tape.
His letters, however, are not quite so well-known. I have seen some of
them and they bear out the old saying that the style is the man, for they con­
tain anecdotes humorous and revealing relating to incidents of the past con­
cerning friends and colleagues in the University and schools. All of them, of
course, had passed on. But he selected new friends from later generations,
too. One letter written some months before he left Pietermaritzburg for
good he signed off with 'Ever yours' in Latin, adding that he understood this
was a frequent letter-usage of the late General Smuts.
For many years his home was at the Victoria Club where everyone, mem­
bers and staff, was quietly proud of having so distinguished a person under
their roof. The Indian staff cherished him and saw that he lacked nothing in
the way of attention or comfort. He had visits from his daughters and
friends both inside and outside the club. There were up-to-date newspapers
and periodicals for his reading and TV was available when he wished to view
a special programme.
His daily examination of The Natal Witness impelled him to send occa­
sionalletters for publication. One of them was about the hottest day experi­
enced in Pietermaritzburg. The letter appears in an April issue of 1959 and
shows how logically he could present his case:
"Sir, - The hottest day ever is apt to be the one with which people
are struggling at the moment and an appeal to cold statistics - though
even these, one would imagine, must have got warmed up a bit during
the past week - to correct their estimate will not do much to make
them feel cooler. But I believe that such an appeal would disprove the
claim made in a recent Witness report for the comparatively modest
figure of 106 degrees as an all-time Pietermaritzburg 'high'.
It is, of course, very much a case where chapter and verse are essen­
tial, so I would specifically name Friday, January 14, 1924, when a
temperature of 110 was recorded at the Botanic Gardens.
50 Alexander Petrie

This figure, to my knowledge, has not been equalled since; nor, as

far as I can gather, is there any general desire that it should be.
But it supports the probability that a scrutiny of the recor.ds would
show that 106 has been topped more than once within fairly recent
years.
The 110 degrees, however, of January 14, 1924, has I believe been
checked and confirmed before now and can be accepted as reliable . . .
A. PETRIE"

Towards the end of his life he contracted pneumonia but made a good re­
covery despite his advanced age. However, his daughters felt that the time
had come to take him to Johannesburg where he could be with the family.
In due course he celebrated his 98th birthday on October 26, 1979, receiving
of course many congratulations from his friends in Natal.
He died in his sleep on Saturday morning, December 1, 1979, having been
spared a long illness of severe pain. The Natal Witness published the news
on the front page, paying tribute to the grand old man. *
In his day he had employed his facility in verse-composition in commem­
orating various occasions, including obituaries, and there is a certain appro­
priateness in concluding this tribute with the lines which he composed on the
death of his friend R.D. Clark. They apply perhaps even more strongly to
himself.
"Yet in our ears, till hearing dies,

One set slow bell will seem to toll

The passing of a genial soul

As ever looked with human eyes."

JOHNCLARK
• Among the other tributes paid to Professor Petrie was that of the Principal and Vice-Chan­
cellor of the University of Natal, Professor N.D. Clarence, who delivered the address at the
Memorial Service held in the Pietermaritzburg Presbyterian Church, Longmarket Street,
on Tuesday, 11th December, 1979. The present Professor of Classics, Professor Magnus M.
Henderson, also wrote an obituary which was published in The Natal Witness on 12th De­
cember, 1979.
Professor Petrie was the first Professor of Classics at the University of Natal (or Natal Uni­
versity College, as it was then known), and thus was one of the foundation professors of the
College, which was established in 1910. He held the Chair until his retirement in 1947. He
has been described as "the Nestor of classical studies in South Africa". Not only was he a
skilful and dedicated teacher with a lecturing style all of his own, but he also published six
books. In 1948 he was designated Professor Emeritus of Latin and Greek; while in 1950 a
further honour was conferred upon him by the University of Natal with the award of the
honorary degree of Doctor of Literature. Professor Edgar H. Brookes, who wrote the His­
tory of the University of Natal, which was published in 1966, "respectfully and affection­
ately" dedicated this book to Alexander Petrie.
Editor
 51

Notes and Queries

More Alive Than Dead

Walkabout
Exploring towns on foot has become increasingly popular in the last decade.
We asked Mr. Trevor Wills, Urban Geographer and veteran town walker,
to comment on town trails.
What is a town trail? Town trails are map guides which should ideally,
like nature trails, apply techniques of guided - but questioning ­
self-discovery, though not to the rural habitat of flora and fauna, but
to the built environment within which most of us live - the town.
Trails should not entirely spoonfeed the user with 'correct' assump­
tions and judgements or select what official opinion may judge to be
important or beautiful, in the way that traditional town guides often
do. Trails aim to develop an active response not only to the sights but
also the sounds and smells of town life, which may equal or exceed in
importance the sights so often stressed. They set out to achieve this ob­
jective by providing the user with a carefully conceived route through
town, perhaps some difficult-to-obtain information, and most impor­
tantly, where children are concerned, challenges of some sort, e.g.
questions or pictorial quizzes requiring careful scrutiny and thought
about the area being traversed.
The selection of a route is crucial; it should be chosen with the care de­
voted to his plot by the expert thriller-writer and should not be simply
a haphazard linking together of discrete historical relics or architect­
ural gems (however important each might be individually). Used as an
educational tool the trail should encourage its user to 'read' the town­
scape, improving his/her appreciation by mastering an 'urban vocabu­
lary'. At the very least the town trail should provide the visitor and
resident alike with a meaningful route to follow to see a town or parts
of it on foot. In taking in the visible history of a place, the slower the
means of locomotion the better.
In South Africa there is an increasing interest in learning about towns
and cities on foot, although there are few town trails conforming to the
definition given above. In the Cape, walking tours of Cape Town's
centre have long attracted visitors and residents alike, while in neigh­
bouring Stellenbosch the publication of the delightfully illustrated
Footloose in Stellenbosch has no doubt encouraged many to don their
walking shoes. Stellenbosch also offers their unique Stellenbosch River
Trails. In Port Elizabeth the local branch of the South African Institute
of Town and Regional Planners, in conjunction with the Historical So­
ciety of Port Elizabeth has recently launched the Donkin Heritage
Trail, a comprehensive walking tour aimed at increasing awareness of
that city's historical heritage. Not to be outdone by the larger centres,
members of the Department of Geography at the University of Fort
Hare have devised an Alice Town Trail. In Durban the indomitable
Professor Barend van Niekerk's Durban at Your Feet contains much to
52 Notes and Queries

delight the conservationist, presented in hard-hitting, often provoca­

tive fashion. Sadly, however, his book contains no maps, and the visi­
tor in particular, might find a few map guides an invaluable addition.
Prof. van Niekerk's frank personal view of the central area of Durban
delivered in the form of a suggested walk presents those who take up
his invitation with an environmental challenge.
Pietermaritzburg has fortunately never lacked a core of concerned citi­
zens and local experts, and many visitors and residents alike have
learnt much about the city's past and present strolling through the
lanes with, for example, local architect Gordon Small, and local his­
torian Mr. T.B. Frost. Mr. Rob Haswell and the writer, both members
of the Department of Geography, University of Natal, have in recent
years conducted many groups of schoolchildren, teachers, lecturers,
foreign visitors and conference clelegates' wives around their City
Centre Walk. A route map outlining the City Centre Walk is now
available from the Pietermaritzburg Publicity Association. The Pieter­
maritzburg Municipality is currently preparing a more comprehensive
booklet of walks, to complement their admirable Green Belt Trails
(World's View area).
As enjoyable and beneficial as guided walking tours undoubtedly are,
they can never cater for more than a small percentage of the urban
population. What is needed are cheaply produced, freely available self­
instructional walks, presented in a way which will encourage a broad
spectrum of people to look around towns with a keener eye. To foster
an interest in town trails local organizations might follow the example
of the Heritage Education Group and the Daily Mirror newspaper who
sponsor in Britain a nationwide 'Wide Awake' trail-making compe­
tition, which has been extremely successful. Perhaps in this way we
could begin to upgrade general urban environmental awareness.

Simon van der Stet Foundation

Members of the Foundation continue actively to explore Natal, to encour­
age interest in the past and to press for the preservation of noteworthy sites
and buildings. One of the main aims of the Natal committee at the moment is
to arouse public interest in the activities of the Foundation and to make a
concentrated effort to enrol more members. A particular aspect of this ef­
fort involves arousing the interest of young people in the preservation of
South Africa's rich historical heritage.
Under the Chairmanship of Mr Simon Roberts the Natal Regional Com­
mittee has met regularly at Macrorie House. Dr J.A. Pringle is the Natal
Regional Representative on the Council of the Foundation. Two interesting
outings were organised and were well supported by the members. The first
was a walk through the streets and lanes of Pietermaritzburg on Sunday,
20th April, which was organised and led by Mr Gordon Small, who is a
member of the Committee. On Saturday, 23rd August, the Hon. Secretary,
Mrs loan Roux, organized a very successful all-day outing to Estcourt, Wee­
nen, Muden and Grey town. The highlight of the trip was the journey on the
narrow gauge line from Estcourt to Weenen with Mr Billy Bester in the
cabin of the ever-faithful locomotive, Liliputian. The tour also included
interesting visits to Fort Durnford at Estcourt, which now serves as a local
Notes and Queries 53

history museum, and to Grey town's local museum which is located in a house
which was formerly the official residence of the local magistrate. Members
were particularly grateful to the ladies in charge of the museums in both
places - Mrs F. Bulman at Fort Durnford and Mrs B. Gordon at Grey­
town - who had made a point of being present to welcome us. Each curator
gave an illuminating talk on the history of the museum for which she was
responsible and also drew attention to some of the particularly noteworthy
exhibits.
It is gratifying to note that Macrorie House continues to attract a steady
stream of visitors who derive considerable pleasure from studying the vari­
ous exhibits on view. Because of the generosity of a variety of public-spir­
ited citizens this collection is continuing to grow, and it certainly adds to the
atmosphere of this elegant and well-preserved colonial Victorian home.
Overpark Restored
Rather less well-preserved until quite recently was Pietermaritzburg's mys­
terious. derelict mansion, Overpark. Earlier this year it was sold and the
new owner has set about meticulously restoring it. One of the people closely
involved in the restoration was Mr. Gordon Cunningham who has contrib­
uted this note:
Since 1964 the house stood empty. The grounds became the haunt of
vagrants and tramps and the alleged suicide by hanging of a mental
patient gave rise to the rumour that the house was haunted.
Over the years the house was vandalised until in 1980 it was virtually a
ruin. All the internal doors had been ripped off their hinges, fittings
destroyed and hardly a pane of glass remained. Only the beautiful
friezes on the 18 foot high ceilings gave a hint of the elegance of the
old building.
The recent purchase of the property by a patron and preparations for
its restoration have been the focus of much public interest.
The firm of architects, Franklin, Garland, Gibson & Cunningham
have spent a great deal of time in attempting to refurbish the building
to its previous state. The systematic restoration will include the re­
placement of all rotten roof timbers, roofing iron and roof slates.
Much of the interior plaster is being redone. An old fireplace and sur­
round has been purchased to replace the one ripped from the wall by
vandals.
The restorers are placing great emphasis on detail and every effort is
being made to match wall-paper, door and window fittings and light
fittings.
Something is known of the early history of Overpark though much is still not
clear. With the assistance of Mrs Shelagh Spencer, the Reverend Charles
Scott-Shaw has compiled the following notes which were originally pub­
lished in The Presbyterian Herald, October 1980.
The restoration of Overpark House in Loop Street has a special inter­

est for our Church. I am almost certain this lovely Victorian home was

the original Presbyterian Manse.

The Deeds Office and our Church records establish that Erf 12 Burger

Street (122) Loop Street (1 acre 2 roods and 2 perches) was bought by

the Presbyterian Church for £56 in 1859 from Mr Marquard.

54 Notes and Queries

Tenders for brickwork, carpentry and slating were called for in 1860
and on 1st April 1862 the Rev. William Campbell and his family took
occupation. This house remained the Presbyterian (First Church)
Manse until it was sold in 1897.
The story behind the building is very interesting. Mr. Campbell was
the first Presbyterian minister and chaplain in Natal. He was most suc­
cessful in raising funds, for the amount collected not only paid off the
debt on the Church but supplied a substantial amount for the building
of the Manse. The Manse site is referred to as 'the healthiest site in the
city'. The Bird papers in the Archives record that Mr. Campbell
brought back the Manse plans from Scotland. One only needs to visit
Overpark to note how well situated is the Minister's study with its
separate entrance from the living rooms of the Manse.
It is interesting to note that in The Third Book of the Prophet Igno­
ramus, the writer says that the Presbyterian Manse is a better house
than that of the Lieut.-Governor, Keate.
It is an unfortunate reflection upon Presbyterians that personal senti­
ments and divided loyalties caused them to split into two separate con­
gregations in Pietermaritzburg. The 'argy-bargy' of those times resulted
in the building of another Church and Manse and incidentally such fi­
nancial decline of the First Church that the lovely old Manse and the
Church clock had to be sold. Both these have now been restored. We
are grateful to the restorers.

Saving the Queen's Tavern

Old Durban has found a new champion in Professor Barend van Niekerk.
Armed with a flaming pen he rides like St. George against the twin dragons
of demolition and development. His book, Durban at Your Feet (reviewed
elsewhere in this issue) has jerked Durbanites and others into noticing and
enjoying many fascinating and often forgotten features of the City. During
1980 he has been particularly occupied with the campaign to save the
Queen's Tavern.
The Queen's Tavern in Durban, situated just below the Greyville
Racecourse at 16 Stamford Hill Road, is undoubtedly South Afri­
ca's - and perhaps thus Africa's! - oldest eating and drinking estab­
lishment which survives in the same building in which it was estab­
lished. Opened in 1894 in the not too spectacular but nevertheless not
undistinguished looking building - and a casual glance at recently
constructed watering holes would easily confirm this judgment - there
must be something prophetic in the fact that after so many vicissitudes
and so many near demolitions the Queen's Tavern has once again been
saved from the jackhammer and probably for the last time since it has
now been declared a monument.
There is nothing fancy about the area where the Queen's Tavern is sit­
uated; indeed it is really a slum with this. quaint building protruding
like a healthy finger of a leprous hand of this mangy patch of Durban.
Now the Queen's Tavern - or the British Middle East Indian Sporting
and Dining Club, or Muff and Duff for short - gives shelter to a ver­
itable 'little hero of Durban', the title I bestowed in a recent book on
Notes and Queries 55

Durban on a very small number of business people or institutions who

have given the city and its people something more than the commodity
they sell for profit - who have, in fact, put something back and who
have made a contribution to the ever diminishing quality of our lives.
Such an institution is the Queen's Tavern and such a man its owner Mr
Peter Noel-Barham, who in 1973 converted a building, then verging on
decay, into the graceful place it now is and who, after a three year
battle during which he spared no effort, finally saved it from demoli­
tion when in 1977 it was provisionally declared a national monument.
Alas, on the ground of some bureaucratic reason or another the order
was not final and in February this year I learned that the owners of the
restaurant had to vacate. The battle for the preservation then started.
In 1894 - which in South Africa is a long time ago as far as buildings
go and even a longer time as far as eating establishments above the
rank of corner cafe go - this building first opened its doors to the win­
ers and diners of Durban. It was called the Queen's Tavern apparently
because of the presence nearby of the Queen's Own Regiment at
Greyville. It was then - as indeed it has again become in very recent
times - a place to which people of taste would go for a drink and a bite.
Before the expansion of the city to the Berea this was an elite resi­
dential area. However, with the area surrounding it deteriorating, the
clientele changed and it became one of Durban's roughest joints be­
fore that distinction was wrested from it in our time by the establish­
ments in Point Road. Through the grace only of some divine interven­
tion the delicate stained glass windows celebrating Holbein, Haydn,
Titian, Tennyson and Raleigh came through unscathed, despite the
fact that the building once housed a rather wild jazz club.
Enter the 'British Middle East', as many call it, and you will enter
something distinctive. There is, first, the circular bar with its backdrop
of a gigantic and genuine old world bar mirror and the decorative
pressed steel ceiling; then there are the turbaned waiters reminiscent
of the now-vanished world of the old Marine Hotel. And then there
are the graceful customs of a more gentle yesteryear, right from the
lukewarm scented water which is poured over your hands as you sit
down, to the obligatory decanter of port passed around with your cof­
fee. The bric-a-brac and pictures also bespeak the Victorian era of
grace, leisure and delicacy.
Now the battle of the Queen's Tavern had to be fought on various
fronts and various levels and some of the details cannot be told. In es­
sence it involved persuading a mammoth financial empire from the
Transvaal which intended to build a huge shopping complex there to
save and build around - and, over and underneath if need be - this
little gem of the now so depleted treasure house of Victorian architec­
ture in Durban. The mayor in all his splendour had himself photo­
graphed at the entrance, the Administrator wrote a letter or two, the
National Monuments Council did their thing, but above all two com­
panies, Gordon, Verhoef and Krause and Berger Paints renovated the
building to the state of its former pristine glory. The philosophy here
was simple: nothing but the best for the jackhammers and if the build­
ing must go, then let it go in its full splendour so that everyone can
56 Notes and Queries

know in no uncertain terms what criminal act of cultural vandalism

they were guilty of. And it worked.
On the day of the preliminary victory celebration a more than lifesize
picture of Queen Victoria was unveiled by the deputy mayor. Tele­
vision took the victory into every corner of the land and the Queen's
Tavern was given a new lease of life. But the victory is still a prelim­
inary one since the saving of the Queen's Tavern simply as a building
and not as the eating place it has been for almost a century now will be
a hollow victory indeed. But at least having learned something about
the twisting of arms and the squeezing out of long forgotten human
feelings out of hardened consciences I am confident that we can also
win that battle ... if there will be one at all.
O! Grave Importance
Cemeteries are important sources of historical information and we are glad
to report that the Pietermaritzburg City Engineer's Department has supplied
a useful finding aid.
During the latter part of 1979 the City Engineer was approached by
the then Chief Librarian of the Natal Society Library to undertake the
redrawing of certain old cemetery plans. These plans covered the
Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian and portion of the Church of England
cemeteries on the Grey's Hospital side of Commercial Road, and the
Wesleyan and Church of England cemeteries on the opposite side of
Commercial Road. The Roman Catholic and Jewish Cemeteries were
not included.
Two of the plans were in a very bad state of repair and in fact, almost
illegible. These plans were patched as far as possible and traced on to
draughting film. The true scale of the plans had been mislaid making it
necessary to deal with one block at a time. Each block was then mea­
sured and where possible the names and grave numbers were marked
on the tracings.
Many graves were unmarked, headstones too weathered or damaged
to be legible, making it impossible to obtain a complete record of the
graves. The largest plan, that of the Dutch Reformed Church and
Presbyterian cemeteries was partly damaged and the same procedure
for the copying of the plans was adopted.
Other plans were in reasonable condition and were simply traced and
checked on site for any further information that could be obtained. No
reference was made to burial registers kept in the Natal Society
Library (Reference Section) in the re-drawing of these plans.

Arms and the Men

Pro Patria
South Africa's senior regiment, the Natal Carbineers has celebrated its
125th anniversary. In January there was a week of celebration with events in
which the regiment, its former members and the public participated. There
were formal messes and a dinner and a special race meeting at the Pieter­
maritzburg Turf Club; the films Pro Patria and Carbineer were shown, the
Regimental Colour was trooped and the programme concluded with a drum­
Notes and Queries 57

head church service at the Drill Hall. In addition The Natal Witness pub­
lished a special supplement which recorded much of the regiment's history.
Founded in the early colonial days, proudly bearing no less than 26
battle honours on its colour, the Natal Carbineers is still a fighting force,
having performed several spells of border duty in recent years. As former
commandant, Mr. G. R. de Carle has commented 'Without doubt the regi­
ment will continue to fulfil the calls which may be made upon it from time to
time in the defence of South Africa and will live up to its motto Pro Patria'.
Zulu Dawn
Two years ago Pietermaritzburg buzzed with all the excitement of film­
making. Redcoats drilled on the Oval and black soldiers in the immaculate
uniforms of Sikali's Horse stepped out smartly in the City streets. Last
year the Anglo-Zulu War Centenary, with all the celebrations, commemora­
tions, criticism and comment it evoked, kept attention focused on the events
of 1879.
After all this ballyhoo it was inevitable that Zulu Dawn was something of an
anti-climax. Like any locally-made movie it provided a certain amount of fun
in spotting one's friends among the extras and in recognising familiar places
more or less disguised and decorated. Some of the military scenes were ex­
cellent, especially the crossing of the Buffalo and the escape across Fugi­
tives' Drift. But, in our view, the film failed to entertain or enlighten. The
characters never developed into anything more than flat cardboard-like
creatures and the knowledge that the Zulus were heavily defeated a few
hours later destroyed any sense of excitement at their victory at Isandlwana.
The film did nothing to enhance understanding of black/white relations in
the nineteenth century or explain how Britain, unprovoked, could attack a
friendly neighbour and get away with it. On the other hand, even though
Cetshwayo was portrayed as much more aggressive than the historical
evidence suggests, perhaps the scenes at the king's ikhanda did just manage
to convey the sense that the Zulus also had a case.
The Last Outpost
This television documentary broadcast in September also had a strong mili­
tary flavour. Shots of the Natal Carbineers. the Caledonian Pipers and
memorials to the dead of various colonial conflicts and two world wars all
served to remind the viewer that the British Empire and Commonwealth
were paid for in blood. It is remarkable - as Prof. Trevor Cope pointed out
at last year's Centennial Conference on the Anglo-Zulu War* - that while
Zulus have traditionally been depicted as aggressively militaristic, it is in fact
the British and colonials who erect memorials to military valour and rejoice
in tales of battles and victory; exploits in war hardly feature in Zulu
folklore.
Although it purported to make fun of Natal and, to this end, exaggerated
our British connections and supposedly 'British' values, The Last Outpost
was generally well received in Natal. Views of rich Midland pastures; of gra­
cious Victorian homes in Durban and Pietermaritzburg; of English-looking
schoolboys singing Hymns Ancient and Modern in English-style school
chapels, of 'flannelled fools' and rugby-booted heroes on the playing fields of

"The Zulu War in Zulu Perspective'. Theoria 55, October. 1980.

NAT-E
58 Notes and Queries

Maritzburg College; and of the lavish interior of the Durban Club, redolent
of the Raj and all it stood for, certainly delighted white English-speaking
Natalians and probably most other viewers as well.
It is worth asking, however, what it had to offer beyond the carefully
selected and picturesque sequences such as these. Attempts to examine the
contention that Natal is the 'last outpost' of the British Empire by putting
questions to various Natal personalities were spoiled by bad editing; too
rapid cutting-in rendered many of the answers unintelligible and unrelated
to the context. Presumably, as this was not a serious documentary, there
was no intention of presenting a balanced picture and therefore blatant one­
sidedness and glaring omissions must be forgiven. (Where, one wondered,
were Natal's black and brown people? And were there no educational insti­
tutions for girls?) But if a humorous and deliberately slanted view was in­
tended then a witty and whimsical commentary was needed. Instead both
the music and the words were unsuitably ponderous and solemn, and at
times positively banal. This writer believes this was most clearly shown by
the producer's failure to see that the League of Empire Loyalists is simply a
monumental joke! What began a few years ago as an elaborate student
prank and has continued as a light-hearted parody was presented with a
deadly earnestness.
This grave and heavy-handed pomposity made it quite clear that the mak­
ers of the film had entirely missed the point. Our greatest and most endur­
ing 'English' characteristic is surely the ability to laugh at ourselves. In this,
as often in more serious matters, Natal owes much to its students for re­
minding us to keep things in proper perspective.
Documents Lost and Found
From Mr e.O. Holness comes a query concerning Church records:
There seems to be some mystery as to the whereabouts of the early re­
cords of baptisms, marriages and burials in Natal. The first trader set­
tlers arrived in Natal in 1824, and although in the early stages Port
Natal could not be regarded as a civilized settlement, there is no doubt
that before the advent of the first established churches, white women
had come to Natal and set the foundations of a stable community.
The missionaries led by Capt. AlIen Gardiner R.N. and the Rev. Fran­
cis Owen, and the American Board Missionaries, Adams, Champion,
Grout, Wilson, Venables and Lindley, were early on the scene and
there is no doubt that they and other missionary successors baptised,
married and buried white people as well as black. Y (It where are the
records of these baptisms, marriages and burials of the early Natal sett­
lers - vitally important to genealogists as they are? The American
Board records of these ceremonies do not appear to be held by the
United Congregational Church, their successors, nor are they lodged
at Harvard University where a great collection of Board records has
been lodged.
This is a very serious gap in the historical records and we appeal to re­
searchers and others to pass on any information they have which might lead
to the discovery of these documents.
Certain other documents have recently come to light in Pietermaritzburg.
In the storerooms of an old business firm in the City was found the ac­
Notes and Queries 59

counts ledger of Dr C.M. Aldridge, a medical practitioner of the 1860s. This

massive leather-bound tome contains a beautifully written record of all the
doctor's consultations and accounts. The usual fee for a confinement was
£2.0.0 but we were amused to read of one case when the doctor arrived
after the baby had made its appearance and the fee was duly reduced
to £1.0.0.
A most exciting discovery was recently made in the Natal Archives when
three albums of unusually early photographs were found. The provenance of
the albums is unknown and the pictures are undated but the internal evi­
dence suggests that they are among the earliest photographs taken in Natal.
Mrs Spencer who has examined the albums notes that some of the pictures
were undoubtedly taken before the end of 1858. For example, there is a pic­
ture of Canon Jenkins, a military chaplain, who is known to have left the
Colony in December 1858. Obviously of later date is the one of Peter Pater­
son, Colonial Engineer, who arrived in June 1860.
Not only are the pictures unusually early and of surprising clarity, but
many of them are probably unique in that they depict personalities of whom
no other photographs are known to exist. Here, for example, we may note
Philip AlIen, Colonial Treasurer (1852-1862). Many well known officials are
represented as well as clerical gentlemen, military figures and other not­
ables. Governor Scott, in full gubernatorial attire, is seen about to mount
his horse at the back of Government House; the artillery is shown on the
parade ground at Fort Napier. Dr Callaway was photographed with a mis­
sionary group, possibly at Springvale. One of the most fascinating and un­
usual studies is of Sir Theophilus Shepstone and Bishop Colenso - the only
known instance of these two having been photographed together. There are
also several pictures of Ekukhanyeni (Bishopstowe) showing the buildings,
the missionaries, the converts and the pupils.
This writer was struck by a fine group which shows a number of the school
pupils. The children are all wearing shirts of a white or cream material with
military-style collars and metal buttons, the shirt front, collar and sleeves
decorated with coloured braid. The similarity to the familiar red-trimmed
calico 'kitchen suits', once so common in Natal, was so startling that we con­
sulted Mrs Daphne Strutt, Curator of the Local History Museum in Durban
and author of Fashion in South Africa 1652-1900. Her theory is that the
'kitchen' or 'picannin' suits were modelled on the shirts and knickerbockers
worn by white colonial boys and writes,
In the Local History Museum are two photographs presented by Mrs.
C. Clarkson. They show Pendula, a young Zulu, and were taken in
about 1880. In the first he is seen as he appeared when he first joined
the house staff of a certain Durban lady. In order that he should be
properly clad, she made him simple uniforms, modelled on the knick­
ers-and-tunic suits worn by her own small son but in easily laundered
galatea. For outside work the suits were navy blue trimmed with white
braid, and for inside they were white trimmed with red braid. Benja­
min Greenacre saw and admired these uniforms and had them copied
in various sizes for sale at his store.
We would be interested to hear of any photographs or other evidence
which might link the suits with the Colenso model.
60 Notes and Queries

Golden Jubilees in 1980

We extend congratulations to two organizations which celebrated their fif­

tieth anniversaries this year.

The Southern African Ornithological Society was founded in Natal and its
half century was appropriately celebrated in Natal. Professional ornitholo­
gists and amateur birdwatchers met at Hluhluwe for the Society'S Annual
General Meeting, the presentation of a number of talks and discussions and
some varied and rewarding birdwatching. The occasion was also marked by
the appearance of Bird Atlas of Natal, a pioneering study which is reviewed
elsewhere in this issue.
1930 also saw the founding of Entabeni Hospital in Durban whose story is
told in The Place on the Hill by Marilyn Poole.

Linking Pietermaritzburg and Port Natal

In an earlier issue of Natalia (No 1, 1971) we published an account of the
hazards of road travel between our two major cities. In this issue we note
the centenary of another significant link between them - the railway. Yet
another connection between our cities which has not been written about in
the detail it deserves is the Umzinduzi/Umgeni waterway even though this
only affords a means of communication to the intrepid canoeists. Mr T.B.
Frost has drawn our attention to a turn-of-the-century description of the
dear old 'Duzi. To the modern reader the words are quaint and fulsome
and, in this pollution-conscious age, sadly inaccurate. The occasion was the
move of St. Anne's Diocesan College from the City to Hilton in 1903 and
the speaker Bishop F.S. Baines. He regretted that the young ladies would
now 'lose that cheering sight - the beautiful, limpid, pellucid river, the
Umzinduzi' .
Turning our thoughts downstream we note some of this year's events in
Durban. The information was supplied by Mrs Daphne Strutt.
1980 started off fairly quietly but the mid-year holiday period was en­
livened by the organization of Durban's second Military Tattoo; Navy
Week; and last but most important in the cultural field, the Arts 80
Festival. For this latter, and with the blessing of the Durban City
Council, members of the art fraternity in Durban arranged a pro­
gramme varied enough to attract people of all ages and all races. Be­
tween June 1st and July 20th some 24 separate productions took place,
involving as wide a cross section of people as possible. The aim of the
festival was in the words of Jill Addleson, one of the organisers, ''To
take art off its pedestal without lowering its standard. It attempts to
break down the barrier between art and life, between art and people.
It encourages a light-hearted approach, but above all it emphasises
that art can be enjoyed by everyone".
Among the events were Art exhibitions and demonstrations, a film fes­
tival, and items under the headings of Ballet, Drama, Music and
Opera. In the Durban Art Gallery the Cinzano Glass Collection, one
of the most beautiful contributions, was seen by 4 000 people during
the Festival period Exhibition. In addition there were group activities
such as a Festival of Kites (exhibited or flown competitively), pave­
ment drawing by children and adults at one end of Fenton Lane whilst
an open air craft market was held at the other, and a 'How To Draw'
Notes and Queries 61

course held over four evenings with Andrew Verster, Daryl Nero,
Basil Friendlander and Di Kenton. 'Bathing Beaux and Belles' was the
title of a fashion show/lecture showing bathing apparel through the
ages and presented by the staffs of the Local History Museum and
Durban Art Gallery.
As part of the Navy Week celebrations, a Naval Art exhibition was
held in the Gardens and exhibition rooms of the Local History
Museum. It was composed of three separate collections, one of pic­
tures executed by local naval artists,' one showing selected items on
loan from the S.A. National War Museum and a third, 'Harbour His­
tory in the Making' displaying maritime drawings of subjects of lasting
importance by Tom Hamilton, presently Durban's marine artist.
On 27th August Capt. Caspar Caspareuthus, pioneer aviator, unveiled
a plaque at the Old Stamford Hill Airport building, commemorating
the fact that it was here that the first scheduled commercial air mail
service (piloted by Capt. Caspareuthus) landed and was welcomed by
the Mayor of Durban on 26th August, 1929. The building is now the
headquarters of the N .M.R. Comrades Association.
A large rock, a piece of Table Mountain sandstone, on a vacant site in
Carinthia Road, off Quarry Road was this year declared a National
Monument. Identified by the striae which scar it, this is a relic of a
huge ice sheet which carried rocks and boulders across the country be­
fore depositing them. This one is part of the Dwyka Tillite which has
been quarried on both sides of the Umgeni valley since the middle of
the 19th century.
Durban preservationists are still engaged in the fight to save the old
Main Station buildings - and the Queen's Tavern. At present the
thread supporting the sword of Damocles that hangs above them seems
adequate. The vital issue with regard to the station would seem to be
whether a good, lucrative use can be found for it so that, once restored
and adapted, it can support itself.

1820 and All That

Settlers' Day has been observed for the last time; next year this public hol­
iday falls away from our national calendar. But those who came from other
countries to make their homes here will not be forgotten for it seems certain
that their lives and achievements will go on providing much fascinating
material for their descendants, historians and others.
Anyone with an interest in early Natal settlers will be delighted to hear
that the first volume of Mrs Shelagh Spencer's mammoth Biographical Reg­
ister of Natal Settlers is to be published next year (Abbott - Ayres). For
each settler who arrived in Natal before 1858 there is a biography - the
length of these depends on the amount of material available and they range
from a few lines to two or three pages - a list of children and their mar­
riages, and a detailed note on the documentary sources where information
was found.
Willowfontein Centenary
A nineteenth century group of settlers which is less welI known than some
others was the settlement at Willowfountain near Pietermaritzburg. In an ar­
62 Notes and Queries

tide in The Natal Witness of July 16th 1980 Ivor Glass told the story of the
17 families who were placed on the Voortrekker farm, Wilgefontein, in the
hope of improving the supply of fresh produce to the Pietermaritzburg mar­
ket, and paid tribute to their courage and perseverance. When they arrived
on their farms the veld had been burnt to a cinder and they pitched their
tents among the ashes; from such a desolate beginning they went on to over­
come other hardships of every kind and eventually turned the valley into an
area of great productivity.
The Fvnns and Canes and Tarka Post
Some~ of Natal's settler families came not from Great Britain but from the
Eastern Cape. From Mt Brian Randles of the Kaffrarian Museum at King
William's Town comes this note on the Cape connections of two familiar
Natal personalities.
In Natalia No. 5, 1975, Mrs. Margaret Rainier, in reference to the part
played by Albany settlers in the pioneering days of Natal, remarked
that there was possibly some family relationship between John Cane
and Henry Francis Fynn.
Her conjecture is very probably correct for Henry Francis Fynn mar­
ried firstly Ann Brown (1817-1839) and in 1841, after Ann's death,
married her sister Christiana (1821-1870). They were the daughters of
John Brown (1791-1835) and Ann Cane (1792-1857) who were mar­
ried at St. Ann's Church, Westminster on 2nd October, 1812.1 They
came out on the Settler ship Northampton in 1820 and settled at Clay
Pits in the Albany District. 2 A witness at the wedding was Ann's
brother, Thomas Saunders Cane, who also came out in 1820 and was
killed at Clay Pits in 1835 during the 6th Frontier War. There were two
other brothers, John and William Cane, and she had three sisters
Katherine, Rebecca and Mary.3
John Cane, the Natal pioneer, was the son of Edward Cane of London
and was born c. 18004 which would make him about eight years
younger than Ann Brown (nee Cane). Enquiries to St. Ann's Church
brought no response and unfortunately other attempts to establish that
Ann's father was also Edward Cane have proved fruitless. Perhaps a
Natalia reader may have the opportunity to settle the matter by per­
sonal research in London. However it seems unlikely that there were
two persons of about the same age named John Cane so it seems rea­
sonably probable that Henry Francis Fynn married successively two
nieces of his fellow pioneer. A negative aspect is that John Cane, the
Natal pioneer, seems to have had very little contact with the Eastern
Cape or with Ann Brown (nee Cane) and her family, but having come
to the country in 1813 aged about 13,5 he may have lost touch with his
family.
Henry Francis Fynn served as Diplomatic Agent to the Thembus at
Tarka Post on the upper Swart Kei River from 1837-1849/' and it was
here that his first wife Ann died in 1839. I was agreeably surprised to
find her grave still in good condition. In 1849 Thomas Baines painted a
water-colour entitled 'Mr. Fynn's Tomb, McDonald's House, Tarka
POS!,7 at the request of Mrs. McDonald "who had expressed a wish to
have a drawing of the tomb of a relative who had died and was buried
Notes and Queries 63

in a small enclosure beside the garden". K Baines of course erred in de­

scribing it as Mr. Fynn's tomb. Ann Fynn was in fact Mrs. McDonald's
sister-in-law. for she was Henry Francis Fynn's sister born in lR05 and
she was married to Donald McDonald in Grahamstown in lR24 9
There is a further link with Natal through the 45th (Nottinghamshire)
Regiment. The 45th Cutting near Durban is well known to Natalians
and a detachment of the 45th constructed the fortification at Tarka
Post. On 28th September, 1849, Thomas Baines did a painting lO of the
fort and noted the inscription on the gateway: 'This fort was, Dei
Gratia, constructed by the light company 45th regt. 1 corporal & 4
gunners royal artillery A.D. 1846' I I I was delighted to find that this in­
scribed stone had survived and is in remarkably good condition. It was
fortunately kept at the nearby farm, Thibet Park, for many years and
in 1977 Mrs. G.c. Phillips kindly presented it to the Kaffrarian Mu­
seum, King WilIiam's Town. It is currently on loan to the Fort Beau­
fort Historical Museum which is nearer the site of the Post.
Today there is only slight evidence of the outline of the fortified post,
but it is pleasing to be able to record that the National Monuments
Council has agreed to erect a cairn with an inscribed plaque which will
record Henry Francis Fynn's service there and indicate the site of the
fort.

."IOTES
, Twin Trails by Marjorie Dick Davies. K.B. Davies (Pvt) Ltd., Salisbury 1974. pp 16, 134 &
14il.
2 Natalia No. 5 pp. 59-60.

, Twin Trails, p. 148.

4 Dictionary of South African BioKraphy, Vo!. II p. 123.

Ibid. Vo!. II p. 123.

Ibid. Vo!. I p. 306.
7 Journal of a Residence in Africa by Thomas Baines, edited by R.F. Kennedy. Vo!. I.
1il42-1849. The van Riebeeck Society. Cape Town, 1961. Illustration No. 20 opposite page
176.

, Ibid. p. 202.

9 The Family of Donald and Eliza McDonald compiled by Mercy Murray. copied by T.S.
Moodie. King William's Town, n.d., and Twin Trails p. 16 and p. 144.
>0 Catalogue of Pictures in the Africana Museum by R.F. Kennedy, No. B. 193.
" Journal ofa Residence in Africa, pp. 196--197.
Acknowledgements. I am indebted to members of the Winterberg Historical Society, in partic­
ular the Reverend Charles Scott-Shaw, well-known to Natal historians, and Mr. Eric Pringle
(Chairman), who assisted in discovering the site of the fortified post and locating the inscribed
stone from the gateway.

M.P. MOBERLY
64

Book Reviews and Notices

THE BLACK PEOPLE and whence they came. A Zulu View

by Magema M. Fuze. Translated by H.C. Lugg. Edited by A.T. Cope.
(Published jointly by the University of Natal Press and the Killie Campbell
Africana Library. Translation Series Number 1, 1979.)

This book was written at the turn of the century. When it was first published
in 1922 it was the first major work ever written in Zulu by a native speaker
of the language. It was conceived and written by Magema M. Fuze, son of
Magwaza kaMatomela of the Fuze clan of the Ngcobo chiefdom, because, as
he put it,
'It will be a good thing if even in the future our children gain know­
ledge about their past, rather than remain ignorant and stupid like the
siphumamangati eagle.'
Fuze's father was a subject of Chief Ngoza of the Majozi clan which was
located at Table Mountain, not far from Pietermaritzburg. In 1856 Fuze left
his people to live at Ekukhanyeni, Bishop Colenso's mission station, which
was situated adjacent to the episcopal residence at Bishopstowe. Bishop­
stowe, which was about ten kilometres from Pietermaritzburg, was ideally
situated to serve as a meeting place between the world of the black people
and that of the white. Fuze was one of the first pupils of a school established
by Colenso for the education of the children of all important black people in
Natal. By Colenso's estimation he was about twelve years of age when he
came to the school. He was baptised on Easter Sunday in 1859 and was
trained as a compositor on the mission printing press. He remained at Ekuk­
hanyeni for thirty years and more, and maintained a lifelong contact with
the Colenso family.
Ekukhanyeni and Bishopstowe brought Fuze into contact with a wider
world. The most notable people of the day, black and white, colonists,
Zulus and people from overseas visited there. It was there that the great is­
sues of the day such as evolution were discussed. It was there that intellec­
tual currents emanating from England fused with the practical problems of
translating the Bible into Zulu. The interaction of intellectual developments
in England such as Sir Charles Lyell's revelation of the immense antiquity of
man through his geological work, and the close questioning of 'intelligent
Zulus' such as William Ngidi and Fuze on matters such as the capacity of
Noah's ark, launched Colenso on his controversial course of biblical crit­
icism. The atmosphere of the mission station was one of curiosity, of healthy
scepticism, of examining and discussing whatever issues advanced scientific
knowledge, however uncomfortable they might be in terms of traditional re­
ligious teaching, of thinking about them and coming to conclusions, for
Colenso revered Truth and would tolerate no obstacles to the pursuit of
Truth. Fuze himself asks in his book,
'Why should the story not be true that the first person to be created
was a baboon, and that in the course of time the baboons developed
into humans such as us?'
Book Reviews and Notices 65

Fuze successfully straddled the worlds of the traditional Zulu and the
Christian convert, and the main interest of his book lies in the reflections of
mind of a man who stood with equanimity at the forefront of a clash of cul­
tures. In Mrs Colenso's view. his dress and manners as a printer would do
credit to any Englishman of his rank in society. Yet he retained a profound
respect for the customs and traditions of his people. This was not surprising
for in Colenso he had a sympathetic teacher who did not confront traditional
cultures head-on hut rather sought out elements on which Christian concepts
could be grafted and developed. Fuze records the customs of his people in
the belief that a people became worthless when their customs were not ob­
served. Yet the overlay of Christian morality is evident in his observations
on some customs. With reference to songs sung by girls on attaining puberty
he states,
These puberty songs are very bad and disgusting, and refer to matters
not spoken about by a well-mannered person and spoken about only
by an evil-minded person with no sense of respect.'
He argues that these songs were composed as a warning both to those who
had attained puberty and those who had not, to desist from 'evil', 'filthy
acts' which if performed by a girl signified her worthlessness. Yet the actual
object of those songs was to serve as a form of sex education in plain lan­
guage. Although in many respects a pious Christian, Fuze himself had, by
his own account to the Natal Native Affairs Commission of ]881-2, acquired
four wives in accordance with the customs of his people and in contraven­
tion of Colenso's ban on the acquisition of additional wives by Christian
converts. Perhaps hecause of his importance to Colenso as a printer, and be­
cause of the fact that he was not engaged in religious teaching at the mis­
sion, he was able to escape the fate of William Ngidi who was ejected from
Bishopstowe in 1869 when he insisted on marrying more than one wife, al­
though he was a convert.
A theme that comes across forcefully in the book is Fuze's sense of Zulu
nationalism. Probably this evolved in parallel with Colenso's own views on
the viability of the Zulu polity and his growing respect and admiration for
Cetshwayo after 1877, when he took up the cudgels on behalf of a nation he
believed to be deeply wronged by the actions of British officials. As chief
printer at Bishopstowe Fuze was largely responsihle for setting the volu­
minous sheets written hy Colenso on Zulu affairs. These sheets eventually
constituted Bishop Colenso's Digest of Zulu Affairs (1879-1883) which was
an important weapon in his search for justice for the Zulu people. On at
least two occasions, Fuze was sent by Colenso to Zululand to gather infor­
mation on Zulu affairs. Messengers from Zululand to Pietermaritzburg fre­
quently called at Bishopstowe for the Bishop's advice, and this gave Colenso
the opportunity to ascertain the validity of official views ahout their king
and their own attitude to him, through careful questioning.
In his account of Zulu history, which forms the bulk of the book, Fuze
gives a favourable account of all the Zulu kings with the exception of Din­
gane who, in his view, never committed a single good act. Shaka was not
merely the progeny of Senzangakhona and Nandi, he was
'a special product appearing from above, who arrived here expressly
for the purpose of bringing unity to the country instead of disunity,
and rule by one person instead of everyone doing as he pleased.'
66 Book Reviews and Notices

When he visited Zululand in 1878 Fuze found Cetshwayo

'a pleasant person with a good presence, handsome, concerned for all
his people, and extremely kind in his speech.'
He was deeply impressed with the just manner with which Cetshwayo tried
the cases brought before him. Nearly twenty years earlier he had had his
first encounter with Cetshwayo, then heir apparent to Mpande's throne,
when he accompanied Colenso's expedition to Mpande in 1859. Fuze re­
corded this experience as the author of one of the Three Native Accounts of
a visit to King Mpande in 1859.
But Fuze's sense of nationalism was not simply confined to the Zulu
nation. It extended beyond to incorporate a sense of a common identity with
all the black people of Africa about whom he learned from visitors to
Bishopstowe. Among them was Alice Werner, who subsequently became
professor of Swahili and Bantu Languages at the School of Oriental and Af­
rican Studies in London, and who provided information about the people of
the Zambezi: ­
Fuze's account of Zulu history illuminates many points of interest from a
Zulu perspective. For instance, his account of the death of Nandi, the
mother of Shaka, differs markedly from that of Fynn. Fynn argued that she
died of dysentery, whereas Fuze reveals that she was stabbed by Shaka who
was angry with her for concealing a girl of the Cele clan who had given birth
to a son by him. Shaka did not have wives, only a harem of girls, because he
did not want to produce sons who might threaten his position.
Probably Fuze's passion for recording the past of his people was stimu­
lated by Colenso's own interest in recording historical events. One of the
first books to be used in the school at Ekukhanyeni was a history book writ­
ten by ColenSo in 1856 and entitled lzindaba Zas 'eNatal. Fuze repro­
duced this in full, although the editor of the translation has cut it drastically.
Fuze's comments on the text are of great interest. For instance, Colenso re­
cords the death of Retief largely from a colonial perspective, seeing the act
as irrational and treacherous. Fuze adds a different perspective. When Retief
and his companions visited Dingane in order to obtain a land grant, they
were provided with quarters from which they paid visits to the king at
Mgungundlovu. At night they were seen by the night watchmen going out
and encircling Mgungundlovu. In Fuze's words,
'It was for this reason ... that Dingane killed them, realising that al­
though they had said they had come with goodwill, they had evil in
their hearts; for why did they want to surround his residence during
the night?'
In treating more recent Zulu history, Fuze is able to record experiences of­
ten at first hand. His views of people such as Hamu and Zibhebhu, who
were ranged against the Zulu king, differ markedly from official perspec­
tives which held them in high esteem. Zibhebhu, 'with his lop-sided little
headring', was accustomed to 'doing evil things'. He records Cetshwayo's
own words spoken to him before the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu war, 'Do
you know that the white people are coming here? But we Zulus will not run
away from them.' Fuze was firmly convinced that the European invasion of
Zulu land was the result of a decision
'to destroy this savage government adjacent to an enlightened one, be­
Book Reviews and Notices 67

cause the Natal Government feared that one day it would be suddenly
and unexpectedly attacked. '
Fuze's account of Cetshwayo's death on 8 February, 1884 suggests that
there was more to it than the official view that he had died of a diseased
heart. Cetshwayo had gone to live under the protection of the British Resi­
dent, Melmoth Osborn (Malimati) at Eshowe on 17 October, 1883, amidst
the turmoil of the Zulu Civil War. Although he was loyally served by Keke's
people, Cetshwayo was distressed because in Fuze's words, 'he was not in
friendly relationship with Malimati.' Osborn and the official establishment
in Zululand were hostile to the interests of the Zulu royal family and were in
league with Zibhebhu, who had brought about his downfall. After eating a
beast that Osborn had slaughtered for him, Cetshwayo suffered stomach
pains and died shortly afterwards. Recently, at the unveiling of Cetshwayo's
tombstone at Nkandla in September 1980, it was alleged that British officials
had poisoned Cetshwayo.
In Professor Cope, Fuze has a sympathetic and unobtrusive editor. Al­
though responsible for the division of the book into three sections - His­
tory, Ethnography and Zulu History - Professor Cope has tried as far as
possible to retain the original arrangement and order of the chapters. He
has not imposed any chronological order for
'the relevance of an historical event is seen more clearly and from dif­
ferent points in time, as the Zulu praiser does in his chronicles of the
kings, rather than as a constant point on an historical scale. '
Professor Cope has been concerned to preserve the book as Fuze's creation,
to retain the quality of the book as it was written 'with all its peculiarities,
inconsistencies, errors and omissions.' In addition to his valuable notes on
the text, supplemented by those of the historian, Dr Shula Marks, Professor
Cope has supplied the most useful and reliable references in order to enable
the reader to pursue points of interest.
A brief review can indicate only a few of the many points of interest in
this book. It should be read by everyone interested in Natal and Zulu his­
tory, and should serve as inspiration for the development of black historical
writing, drawing on all the techniques and methods at the disposal of the
modern historian. It is only when all South Africans contribute that the rich­
ness, complexity and diversity of our past can be understood in its entirety.
And with better understanding there will perhaps be greater wisdom in the
present. The Black People and whence they came constitutes an impres­
sive first volume in the launching of the translation series. One looks for­
ward to more publications in this series.
RUTH EDGECOMBE

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU KINGDOM: THE CIVIL WAR IN

ZULULAND, 1879-1884
ByJEFFGUY
(Published by Longman, London, 1979.)

The last two issues of Natalia have carried reviews of seven of the spate of
books that have recently been published to take advantage of the market
created by public interest in the centenary of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
68 Book Reviews and Notices

Most of these works focus on the military aspect of the war, an aspect which
has a special fascination for the large readership which takes pleasure in
descriptions of the achievements of British imperial arms, or in the roman­
ticisation of the Zulu warrior as the archetypal noble savage. Few of them
are concerned to challenge the myths about the origins and consequences of
the war that have built up over the last hundred years; few of them show in­
terest in Zulu history before and after the war. The book under review, an
academic but highly readable study, does both, and thereby sets itself in a
class apart.
Two prefatory chapters of Jeff Guy's book describe the main structural
features of the Zulu social and political system during the sixty years of the
kingdom's existence; a third analyses the reasons for the British invasion of
the kingdom in 1879; a fourth (mercifully brief) outlines the course of the
ensuing war. From these chapters three important theses emerge. The first
concerns the origins of the war. It is by now fairly widely accepted (at least
among academic historians - among popularisers of Zulu history the idea
still survives that the cause of the war was 'Zulu aggression') that this con­
flict was a consequence of attempts made from 1875 onward to implement
Lord Carnarvon's policy of southern African confederation. Guy argues that
this policy itself and therefore the Anglo-Zulu War, must be seen in the con­
text of changes in the political economy of southern Africa consequent on
the discovery of diamonds in the late 1860s. Expansion of British and colo­
nial capital investment could not safely and profitably take place without
modernisation and co-ordination of local systems of labour control, of com­
munications, and of defence: the weakening of Zulu power was one of the
steps necessary before this could be brought about.
Understandably, but perhaps unfortunately, Guy limits his argument on
this point to the space of a page or two - understandably, because it is not
his concern to explain the origins of the Anglo-Zulu War in detail; unfortu­
nately, because with elaboration of his argument he might have been able to
deflect some of the more un comprehending - and sometimes snide - crit­
icisms of his line of reasoning that have begun to appear from the pens of
more conventionally-minded historians. Given the long-standing debate
among historians over the nature of the "imperial factor" if\ 19th-century
southern Africa, it would have been to the benefit of his readers for Guy to
have taken his point further.
The second important thesis concerns the role of Theophilus Shepstone,
Natal's Secretary for Native Affairs for thirty years to 1876, in manoeuvring
the Zulu into war with the British. Historians have recently tended to cast
the British High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, as the villain of the piece:
Guy demonstrates convincingly that close at his shoulder in 1878, helping
him find pretexts for invading Zululand, stood that eminence grise, Shep­
stone, who for years had had his mind on ways of gaining control of the
Zulu kingdom's resources of land and labour as a means of meeting Natal's
increasing shortage of both. A major reassessment of Shepstone's role in
Natal and Zulu history is long overdue: Guy's brief analysis represents a
step towards it.
The third important thesis concerns the extent of the Zulu defeat in 1879.
Contrary to the view propagated by the British army's officer caste in 1879,
a view that has since become firmly entrenched in the literature on the war,
Book Reviews and Notices 69

Guy argues that though the Zulu were defeated on the battlefield they did
not suffer total political defeat. 'Given the strong opposition to the war in
certain British political circles, the Zulu victory at Isandlwana. together with
the resistance which they offered to the British army for more than seven
months, forced British officials in southern Africa to reconsider the terms
which they had originally intended to impose on the Zulu once the latter
had been defeated. Guy cites evidence to indicate that Frere had planned to
annex Zulu territory, depose King Cetshwayo kaMpande, and establish a mil­
itary administration over the country; in the event, in terms of the set­
tlement eventually imposed by Sir Garnet Wolseley, the Zulu lost their king
but retained their land and their cattle and, consequently, the basis for con­
tinued independence. At the end of the war they were a defeated but hardly
a broken people.
The disintegration of Zulu society, Guy goes on to argue, was thus not so
much the outcome of the war of 1879 as of the increasingly violent internal
conflicts which developed after the removal of the king, and which were ex­
acerbated by his subsequent restoration as ruler of part of his former king­
dom. On one side was the Zulu royalist party, the Usuthu; on the other
were the rival Mandlakazi and Ngenetsheni parties, respectively under Zib­
hebhu kaMaphitha and Hamu kaNzibe. These latter were actively aided and
abetted by the Natal colonial administration, which was fiercely opposed to
any attempt at reviving the power of the Zulu royal house. The mach­
inations of Natal officials, together with the refusal of the British govern­
ment to intervene in Zulu affairs, though pressed to do so both by the Usu­
thu and the Natal government, served to prolong the struggle to the point
where the production base of Zulu society began to break down. Threat­
ened with the total extinction of their support, the Usuthu leaders in desper­
ation turned to the only available source of help - Boers from the Trans­
vaal. In mid-1884 Boer firepower was decisive in enabling the Usuthu to
overcome the Mandlakazi, and the bitter and destructive civil war was over.
The bulk of Guy's book focuses on the month-by-month manoeuvrings of
the Usuthu leaders after 1879 in their efforts to maintain their internal sup­
port and to seek external allies. The field has been worked over before by
other historians, but none has attempted, as does Guy, to illustrate in detail
how the conflict in Zululand was the outcome not simply of local rivalries
but also of events in Natal, the Transvaal, and Britain. The exercise is a
complex one; in a large measure Guy succeeds in it. To the extent that he
fails it is because his focus is primarily on the Usuthu. A fully comprehen­
sive account of the civil war would need to investigate in detail - so far as
the sources allowed it - the composition through time of the Mandlakazi
and Ngenetsheni parties, and the nature of the forces which influenced their
leaders to follow the courses of action which they did. In this connection
Guy provides some tantalising - but all-too-briefly expressed - insights: in
contrast to the 'traditionalist' leadership of the Usuthu, Zibhebhu and
Hamu are seen as examples of 'new men' whose power rested to a large ex­
tent on the close links which they had established with the outside world of
colonial politics and economies. The point would seem to be crucially impor­
tant to an understanding of Zulu history in the period under discussion; it is
to be regretted that the author did not expand on it and at the same time
weave it more closely into his overall argument.
70 Book Reviews and Notices

In partial exoneration of the author for his omission, the point should be
made that one of his central concerns is to try to set the record straight as to
the role played by the Usuthu in the civil war. Because of the Natal adminis­
tration's opposition to the Zulu royalist cause, the bulk of the contemporary
official documents which bear on Zulu affairs, and which survive today as
primary source material for the historian, are unremittingly hostile to the
Usuthu. In seeking to correct a bias which has persisted in the literature for
a hundred years. Guy has - perhaps unavoidably - kept the Usuthu on the
centre of the stage.
A concluding chapter takes the narrative from 1884 to the early 1890s. By
the end of the civil war,
'the unity and self-sufficiency which existed before 1879 was gone; the
regiments, both the product and the guardian of Zulu independence
were broken, the people deeply divided politically, and neither warring
faction had escaped crippling losses and defeat in battle. And as the
Zulu entered this state of material weakness, social chaos and political
fragmentation. the colonial authorities in the south and the armed
whites in the north demanded radical changes in the Zulu way of life'
(p.231).
In 1884 the Usuthu's Boer allies took over large tracts of territory in the
north and west of Zululand as part of the price of their support. In 1887
the rest of the former kingdom was annexed by Britain; and the way was fi­
nally opened for the exploitation by outsiders of Zululand's resources of
land and labour. By the early 1890s many of the men who, a dozen years be­
fore, had been heads of largely self-sufficient homesteads, were having to
sell their labour on the farms and mines and in the towns of Natal and the
Transvaal. This has been the lot of their descendants ever since.
In conclusion: The Destruction of the Zulu Kingdom is an important book
from two perspectives. At a local level, it forms a significant addition to the
still all-too-small body of academic works on Zulu history. At a broader
level, it provides an illuminating case-study of the impact of European and
of settler imperialism on an African society. That it does both these things
together is an indication of the author's thorough knowledge of his subject.
and a tribute to the range of his scholarship.
JOHN WRIGHT

DURBAN AT YOUR FEET

An alternative guide to a city.

By BAREND VAN NIEKERK

(Published by Overport Publishers, 1979.)

When first encountering Professor Barend van Niekerk's book it is advisable

to summon up all reserves to meet a barrage of purposely provocative ques­
tions and remarks. He is engagingly frank and delights in the confusion that
his sudden and often unconventional pronouncements may engender. Like a
dose of fruit salts. such a meeting leaves one stirred up, on Ol1e's toes. re­
freshed, sparkling and sparking. Durban at your feet is a ref1cction of the
author's personality. and reading it has much the same effect. All but the
most apathetic will be prepared to do battle against the possible destruc­
Book Reviews and Notices 71

tion of the cultural worth and beauty of Durban city - which is of course a
Good Thing, (though caution should be observed when walking where an­
gels fear to tread). In his introduction (following upon an excellent Fore­
word by Alan Paton). Barend van Niekerk says "In short Durban - or
DURBS as we call it in a nostalgic or inebriated mood - is not a city which
carries much beauty or inherent charm on its sleeve. In many respects. how­
ever. it is almost certainly South Africa's most charming city but the charm
must be sought out. sometimes squeezed out. It is not far to seek but seek it
you must. It is my hope that this modest work will help you, the visitor to or
the citizen of Durban, to seek out the charm and even perhaps (if you are a
citizen), contribute to it." In the following 202 pages - absolutely packed
with useful information - he uncovers beauty and interest in every section
of our city, much of it unnoticed by its residents. In this alone the book has
made a special contribution. Professor van Niekerk is not hampered by rose­
coloured spectacles and one of the most endearing features of the book is
that it is completely free of the gushing descriptions that usually litter public­
ity publications. Most of his assessments are fair (but not always comfort­
able) - credit where credit is due and a straight left where that seems nec­
essary, and he pops in many bright ideas for consideration. The beaches are
referred to as "Iovely but no longer always clean", and although condemn­
ing the Golden Mile. he appreciates a trip by cable car.
The author's choice of words is as unconventional as the rest of him. Who
else would 'envision up' memories, or call Queen Victoria's statue "un­
usually sexy", and the Town Gardens "South Africa's most monumentalised
acre"? It seems almost unfair to mention that, particularly in the historical
section, this useful and entertaining book is marred by a few slips and print­
er's errors - a revised edition is soon to appear I believe. The printer's
error that particularly tickles my fancy has the Bay in the early days
"surrounded with mango swamps".
In my opinion the chapters are well balanced. The first deals with the his­
torical background, and the next two take one on a tour of the centre of the
City. Grey Street and its environs are inspected in a chapter that is devoted
to the Indian community, and the Amenities ("The best things in life are
free") and Outer Durban (,'Islands of Sanity") each have a section to them­
selves and so does the Waterfront - beach and bay. The "Islands of Sanity"
pages provide contact with the Zulu People and their natural lifestyle - not
available within the city - and the final 30 pages, entitled The Fat of the
Earth, comprise a preliminary guide to wining and dining in Durban. This
latter is a useful section, but not as useful as the last five pages - the index.
An informative book without an index is a frustrating object but one with a
comprehensive index such as this is a welcome addition to any bookshelf.
Presumably to keep down costs, the print is small and the cover soft and
there are a few advertisements, but the format is clear and the cover design
by Andrew Verster most attractive and pertinent to the purpose of the
book.
What perhaps appeals most and comes through on every page is the auth­
or's obvious delight in Durban's natural and man-made assets and his deter­
mination that all sections of the community shall share in their benefits and
fight for their survival. Excelsior, Professor van Niekerk!
DAPHNE STRUTT
72 Book Reviews and Notices

FLOWER PAINTINGS OF KATHARINE SAUNDERS

Botanical and Biographical Notes and Explanations by Emeritus Professor
A. BAYER

(Published by The Tongaat Group Ltd, p.a. Box 5, Maidstone 4]110. 1l)7l).)

The Tongaat Group. a Natal-based organisation, recently celebrated its six­

tieth anniversary as a public company in South Africa. To commemorate the
occasion the decision was taken to produce a publication that would allow a
broad sector of the shareholders of the Company and the public to enjoy
one of the many treasures within the Tongaat Collection and archives. It
was felt that at the same time a history should be produced of the early
times when lames and Katharine Saunders founded the Tongaat Estate on
the coast not far north of Durban.
The outcome of these decisions, the book. Flower Paintings of Katharine
Saunders. is a splendid achievement, worthy in every way of the people it is
intended to honour. Not only is it beautifully presented, but the contents are
of wide appeal. for. apart from the 147 paintings reproduced in 106 plates, it
includes Katharine's own story~ that of a pioneer wife in a sub-tropical.
rather primitive environment from 1854 to 1901, and of her earlier life in
England. It is told by a relative, her great grandson Edward Saunders. who.
raised in Tongaat. now lives and works in Europe, where he writes and lec­
tures in the Arts for institutions such as the Victoria and Albert M useum in
London. The book also includes an account of the contribution Katharine
made to the Botany of Natal by her love of plants and her water-colour
painting and, to put this into perspective, there is a brief history of early
botanists in Natal, several of whom, by buying land and farming near Tong­
aat. became Katharine's neighbours, friends and collaborators in her botani­
cal interests.
The emphasis throughout is thus historical and the book should appeal to
all who have a feeling for early Natal. But the book has appeal. too, in other
ways: the standards of presentation and publication are high indeed and
those who esteem quality will appreciate and wish to have access to this fine
volume. It makes available to many the artistic ability of Katharine who il­
lustrated so well during her lifetime the features and colouring of so many
South African plants. Sixteen of her folios containing about seven hundred
of the floral paintings she produced during forty years of work have sur­
vived ~ eleven of the folios are in the library of the Tongaat Group; five are
in the possession of the Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg. From these folios
a selection was made to cover the range of the varied flora of Natal and to
include some plants from other parts of South Africa, the latter painted
mostly while the artist was travelling. without undue concentration on any
one group such as the orchids which held particular interest for her. Katha­
rine must have been fascinated bv the wealth of botanical material around
her, and its bizarre and bold contrasts with the more restricted and less
flamboyant flowers of her home country. Each plate is accompanied by bo­
tanical notes giving the valid name of the plant illustrated, the name by
which it was known to Katharine, and its features of particular interest.
These notes are interesting and accurate, for they were compiled by two
Natal botanists: the late Professor Adolf Bayer with the help of Dr O.M.
Hilliard of the University of Natal. The paintings are detailed, and the form
Book Reviews alld Notices 73

of the plants usually very well depicted. The reproduction throughout is

admirable both in colouring and in the meticulous precision of the work.
Some plates have a background of colour: these, to me, were mostly of par­
ticular appeal because of the enhanced three dimensional effect produced.
One plate is disappointing, for the well-known and widespread Leonotus
leollurus lacks the vigour and life it has in the autumnal vegetation; a few
others show, for me, a little too much white paper. To a botanist it is ob­
vious that the plants painted were gathered for this purpose and not as bo­
tanical specimens, for there are some illustrations of flower spikes without
other parts of the plant. The book is not intended for the specialist, except
in Africana, perhaps.
The reader is· brought close to Katharine and her husband, James, the
people and places they knew and the difficult times in which they lived.
Chris Saunders, Chairman of the Tongaat Group, in his preface, remarks
that he feels the book is more than a record of the past. "It symbolises for
the Tongaat Group that we have come of age. We are no longer just a dot
on the map, a statistic in the Stock Exchange records, but rather a place
where men, women and children of all races live, work and play with the
object of making our world a better place in which to live."
By its high standards the book well fulfils its purpose as a commemorative
volume; it has a grace and dignity in keeping with life as it was lived in Natal
in the latter half of the nineteenth century by upright and purposeful people
like this pioneer couple. But with all this, or because of it, the humanity
Chris Saunders would have the book symbolise comes through. Simplicity,
directness and sincerity are written into its pages. It is a book for many
people to cherish and enjoy.
K.D. GORDON-GRAY

BIRD ATLAS OF NATAL

By D.P. CYRUS and N.F. ROBSON

(Published by the University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg 1980.

pp i-xx, 320. Numerous maps and text figs.)

When the present reviewer embarked on the Birds of Natal and Zululand
(1964) in 1962/1963 he made an appeal to all interested parties in Natal and
Zululand to provide him with original records of uncommon birds and lists
of species from as many parts of the Province as possible. The outcome of
the appeal was that not a single record of moment or local list was made
available, and the entire work had in the end to be compiled on the basis of
the author's own field researches through the Durban and Natal Museums,
on specimens preserved in these centres, and on the literature, much of
which was by that time already old and very largely out of date.
Happily, the background to the production of this arresting new analysis
of the rich avifauna of Natal and Zululand is strikingly different. The Bird
Atlas of Natal is the outcome of a well-organised co-operative effort by a
small army of dedicated amateurs, supported by the Natal Parks Board, the
Natal Bird Club, etc., and working as a team under the inspired leadership
of Messrs Cyrus and Robson. Unlike the earlier work, the Atlas considers
74 Book Reviews and Notices

only those birds actually recorded in the Province during a single decade
(1970--1980), and as a result more accurately reflects the true current status
of the avifauna. Just under six hundred and sixty species of birds are listed,
most of which arc dealt with on individual maps (with two maps per page).
Range is shown by a system of twelve month segmented discs arranged in
quarter-degree squares, the discs variably blocked-in to show incidence and
status in the square. By and large, the method employed works well enough.
but fails to discriminate effectively between just simple or casual occurrence
in an area and actual residence as a breeder.
The English names employed throughout follow the ever popular Rob­
erts's Birds of South Africa, while the scientific nomenclature is that laid
down by Clancey et al., in the recent S.A.O.S. Checklist of Southern African
Birds (1980). The general range statements have been adapted from MSS
copies of the latter work put at the disposal of the Atlas compilers. All this
material has been singularly competently handled by Messrs Cyrus and Rob­
son and I could pinpoint no very obvious errors.
To turn to the body of the work, I find it difficult to understand why a
map had to be provided for the Greater Frigatebird Fregata minor, since the
species is only known as a cyclonic vagrant to the Natal and Zululand coast.
and especially as it is still uncertain if all frigatebird records are of F. minor.
F. ariel could also conceivably occur on occasion, as both species breed on
islands in the western Indian Ocean. On the other hand, the reviewer be­
lieves maps should have been provided for integral species such as the
Short-tailed Pipit Anthus brachyurus, which was originally discovered near
Durban in Natal, and for which there are several very recent records from
the Natal interior and part of Zululand. Another species is the Knysna
Scrub Warbler Bradypterus sylvaticus, which is a regular winter visitor to
Natal coastal bushes as far north as Durban. Admittedly, unless collected
this nondescript species is readily confused with its congener (Barratt's)
Scrub Warbler Bradypterus barratti, which likewise ranges in the winter
months to the same coastal bushes. Another species which surely deserved a
map of its own is the Lemonbreasted Canary Serinus citrinipectus. with nu­
merous records south to Hluhluwe to its credit.
Confusion in the field with other small 'cloud' cisticolas seems to be the
reason for the extensive range incorrectly accorded the Cloud Cisticola Cisti­
cola textrix (p. 224). This species occurs in two populations in the Province,
one restricted to the upper districts from Elandslaagte to the Transvaal bor­
der at Volksrust, and the other to the sandy littoral of north-eastern Zulu­
land. The erroneous distribution shown on this map highlights the need to
collect and preserve the odd specimen when investigating the status of diffi­
cult groups of this kind and the undesirability of relying solely on sight re­
cords. Reference to Clancey, lac. cit., p. 369. should have alerted the
authors to the possibility of error having crept into some of their field deter­
minations in the case of C. textrix.
It is a pity that the authors did not on occasion endeavour to interpret the
range data more closely in order to highlight the marked seasonal altitudinal
changes which occur in many species.
Mr Tony Clarkson's pen and ink studies are a major feature of this new
work and hence warrant critical assessment. While these studies are in the
main both pleasing and effective they are uneven, and the artist has still
Book Reviews and Notices 75

to develop a personal style, many of his drawings showing the strong influ­
ence of other artists. The better sketches have a direct photographic basis,
while the poorer ones are those in which the artist has had to rely on his lim­
ited acquaintance with the species concerned or else has referred to the
work of others. One or two of the drawings strike a distinctly discordant
note, notably that of (Harratt's) Scrub Warbler (p. 219), which is of a bird
which is certainly not a Scrub Warbler, as the ventral surface is heavily
spotted with black. In the warbler concerned only the forethroat is lightly
streaked with hairlines. The scale of some of the drawings could also have
been more critically observed in order to obviate the impression that, for in­
stance, the Greyheaded Sparrow is a much smaller bird than the Yellow­
throated Sparrow (p. 268), whereas the two are similar in size.
Ilowever, these are all relatively minor points which can be readily ad­
justed in later updatings of this important new work, which ret1ects greatly
to the credit of the two authors and their team of active colleagues. The
work is clearly printed and very nicely produced by the University of Natal
Press. Its appearance ahead of that of other atlas undertakings is a tribute to
all concerned. and Natal can take pride in being the very first territory in all
Africa to have its own bird atlas.
P.A. CLANCEY

ANGLO-ZULU WAR CENTENARY AFTERMATH AND OTHER

MATTERS MILITARY

Published too late to receive notice in last year's number were: Maxwell,
John: Reminiscences of the Zulu War; edited by Leonie Twentyman Jones.
Cape Town. University of Cape Town Libraries. 1979. (Varia series, 15).
23p. facsims., maps. Maxwell, the son of an 1851 Natal settler Commander
F.S. Maxwell, served as a lieutenant in the 3rd ~atal Native Contingent. He
was among the force that went out from Isandlwana the day before the Zulu
attack. Highlights in his narrative are his descriptions of Isandlwana the
night after the battle, and subsequently on visits in March and Mav. 1879.

Clark, Sonia. ed.: llll'ilsiof1 0/ Zululand, 1879. Sandton, Brenthurst press.

1979. (Brenthurst series, 5). 296p. illus .. maps. This consists of the letters
written at the time of the War by Lt. Col. Arthur Harness. Natal's Lt.-Gov­
ernor Sir Henry Bulwer, and Lt. John Jervis (later Viscount St Vincent).

A pamphlet on the War now available locally is The 24th Regiment at

lsandhlwana: the Zulu War 1879, by Frank Emery. (Brecon, The Royal
Regiment of Wales, 1979. 19p., illus.) This is based on the narrative com­
piled by Capt. William Penn Symons from information given him by survi­
vors of the battle.

Information has been received of two publications by Samsol1 Books. Both

are directed at medal collectors. but have much to offer the historian. Firstlv
The silver wreath; being the 24th Regiment at 1sandhlwana and ROl'ke's Drilt.
1879. London. Samson Books, 1980. 102p. illus. A complete roll of names
and biographical details of the officers and men of the 24th who fell at
76 Book Reviews and Notices

lsandlwana is given, plus a 'comprehensive' roll with biographical informa­

tion, of those present at Rorke's Drift. There is also a hitherto unpublished
description of the Rorke's Drift action by Lt. Chard, and statements by six
private soldiers who survived lsandlwana.
The other is Everson, Gordon R.: The South Africa 1853 medal; being the
roll of the recipients and the story of the campaign medal issued for the fron­
tier wars between 1834 and 1853. London, Samson Books. 1978. 158 p.,
front., maps. Here one finds lists of over 9 600 recipients of this medal. both
soldiers and marines. For each regiment a brief history is presented of its ac­
tions on the frontier in these years. The lists following are in order of rank,
indicating in which of the three wars, viz. 1834-5, 1846-7 and 1850--3, each
recipient had been engaged.
S.P.M. SPENCER
 77

Register of Research on Natal

This list has been compiled from individual submissions from subscribers to Nata/ia.
Persons knowing of current research work that has not been listed are asked to furn­
ish information for inclusion in the next issue. A slip is provided for this purpose.

BIOGRAPHY
The Rt. Revd. Or Alphaeus Zulu R.J.G. Aitkcn

BOTANY
Botanical (taxonomic) study of the grasses (Poaceae/ Dr K.D. Gordon-Gray
Grainineoe) and sedges (Cyperaceae) of Natal

ECOLOGY
Influence of Iron Age man on Natal wilderness land­
scapes J.M. Feely

FAMILY lllSTORY
The Tatham Family in Natal MrsJ.C. Gie (nee
Tatham)

HISTORY
Comparative study of 19th Century British colonial garri­
sons (including Fort Napier. Pietermaritzburg) Dr R. McLachlan
Development of Natal railways J.c. Clarke
History of Pietermaritzburg Or R.E. Gordon
Indian immigrants in "Iatal: movements of groups within
Southern Africa including Angola Or J.B. Brain
Natal place-names in relation to thc historics of settlers N.T. Hunt
Rev. Father Bernard Huss and organised resistance to
the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union in "Iatal
and the Transkei Or J.B. Brain

Mrs Jennifer Verbeek of the Dept. of Library Science. University of NataL Pieter­
maritzburg, has supplied us with the following additional information on research
projects:
Archaeology in "Iatal - including Zululand and East
Griqualand Miss P. Stabbins
A comprehensive bibliography on rock art of Natal and
Zululand including Basutoland (now Lesotho) and East
Griqualand. covering material from the turn of the cen­
tury to the present Miss M. Cherry
Revision of Webb's Official records of Mrs M. "Iathanson
the Colony of NaJal and Mrs E. Peel
Die Rol van die N.G. Kerk in Natal Mev. Ina v.d. Spuy
Selcct bibliography of the Anglo-Zulu war. 1879 Mrs J.A. Verbeek
The Trappist Monastery at Marianhill, Natal: its origins
and its publications Mrs D. Lam oral

Compiled by J. F ARRER
78

Select list of recent Natal

publications

ARNOLD, L.M., and Varty, Alice E. English through activity: handbook for higher pri­
mary instructors; fifth to seventh years (Std. 3-Std. 5). Pietermaritzburg, Shuter
and Shooter, 1980.
AYLEN, Leo. Return to Zululand: poems. London; Sidgwick and Jackson, 1980.
BENsoN, Ivor. The Battle for South Africa. Durban, Dolphin, 1979.
BUTHELEZI, ChiefM. Gatsha. Power is ours. N.Y., Books in Focus, 1979.
FERGUSON, A.L. John Ferguson, Christian gentleman. Durban, the Author, (1980).
HERBERT. Alfred. The Natal rugby story; edited by Reg. Sweet. Pietermaritzburg,
Shuter and Shooter. 1980.
LABAND, J.P.c., and Thompson, P.S. War comes to Umvoti; the Natal-Zululand
Border 1878-79. Durban, University of Natal, 1980.
LOEVENDIE, Rene. Comrades marathon: a photo essay, 1979. Durban, the Author,
1979.
MOORE, Dermot Michae!. General Louis Botha's second expedition to Natal during
the Anglo-Boer war, September-October 1901. Cape Town, Historical publica­
tions society, 1979.
NATAL. Town and regional planning commission. Hydrology and water resources of
the Drakensberg, by R.E. Schulze. Pietermaritzburg, the Commission, 1979.
NATAL. Town and regional planning commission. Policy proposals for the estuaries of
Natal, by George Begg. Pietermaritzburg, the Commission, 1979.
PRETORIA. University. Bureau for Economic Policy and Analysis. Alternatives to the
consolidation of KwaZulu: Progress report, 1979.
RODSETH, Peter H. Mission Station to Mayor's Parlour: an Autobiography. Pieter­
maritzburg, the Author. 1980.
SOUTH AFRICA (Republic). Dept. of agriculture and fisheries. Natal region. Soil survey
of the Tala valley area; a report ... , by D.A. Dekker and others. (Pietermaritz­
burg), the Dept., 1980.
TAYLOR, Mary. The Story of Sweetwaters, by Mary Taylor (nee Halsted). (Pieter­
maritzburg), the Author, (1979).
WEBB, C. de B., and Wright, J.B., editors. The James Stuart archive ofrecorded oral
evidence relating to the history of the Zulu and neighbouring peoples; Vo!. 2.
Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal press; and Durban, Killie Campbell Afri­
can a library, 1979.
WILDLIFE SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. Natal branch. A Field guide to the Natal
Drakensberg, by Pat Irwin and others. Durban, the Society, 1980.
WILDLIFE SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. Natal branch. More wild ways with cooking.
Durban, the Society, (1980).
WILKS, Terry. The Biography of Douglas Mitchell. Durban, King and Wilks, 1980.

Compiled by J. F ARRER
 79

Notes on Contributors

CHARLES BALLARD. Is a lecturer in Economic History at the University of

NataL Durban. He obtained his B.A. and M.A. degrees in history from James Madi­
son University. in the United States of America. Mr Ballard has recently been
awarded his doctorate in history at the University of Natal, Durhan. He has puh­
lished several articles on Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century Natal and Zulu
history in a number of journals, including the Journal o( Imperial and Common­
wealth Historv. the Journal of /\fi'ican History and the Journal o( Natal and Zuh/ His­
tory.

RORERT F. HASWELL. Is (1 Senior Lecturer in Geogr(1phy at the University of

Natal. Pietermaritzhurg. He obtained his B.A. and B.A. Honours dcgrees from the
University of the Witwatersrand, and then spent six years studying and lecturing in
the U.S.A. He was awarded an M.Sc. by Southern Illinois University and was a visit­
ing lecturer in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State
University. He will return to the U .S.A. on Sabbatical leave during 1981 to partici­
pate as both student and lecturer in Eastern Michigan University's Historic Preserva­
tion Planning Programme. He has published a number of articles on geographical
topics in a variety of journals, including The Geographical Magazinc (London), in
which his article, "South African towns on European plans", appeared in July, 1979.

ANTHONY S.c. HOOPER. Was born in Pretoria of Natal parents and grew up in
Rhodesia. He attended the University of Cape Town where he obtained a B.Sc de­
gree in Zoology. He was awarded a e.S.I.R. bursary to study for his master's degree
in Library science in the USA. Thereafter he returned to work for the e.S.I.R. ris­
ing to Head of the Reference and Translations Service. He was appointed Chief
Librarian of the Natal Society Library in Octoher, 1974. In June, 198(), he assumed
duty as University Librarian at the University of Cape Town.

JOHN P.e. LABAND. Studied at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, B.A.

1970; and at Cambridge University, B.A. 1972, and M.A. 1977. Samuel Edelstein
Scholarship, 1970. Appointed to the Department of Historical and Political Studies,
University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1972. Co-author with Dr. Paul S. Thompson
of A Field Gl/ide to rhe War ill Zululand, 1879 (Pictermaritzburg, 1(79); and War
comes to Umvoti: The Natal-Zululand Border, 1878-9 (Durhan, 1(80). He has pub­
lished a number of articles and reviews on aspects of the history of nineteenth cen­
tury Natal and Zululand, and is currently engaged in research in that field.

BRUNO MARTIN. Is a qualified cartographer, who was trained at Orell Fiissli Art
Graphics in Ziirich, Switzerland. In 1966, he joined Map Studio in Johannesburg
where he was mainly concerned with the preparation of the artwork for street plans
and road maps published by the various oil companies. In April 1973, he was ap­
pointed to the post of Cartographer in the Geography Department at the University
of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. His publications include a detailed wall map of Pieter­
maritzburg and surrounding areas, printed in four colours, a subsequent book map
version of the same area, and the mapwork in the Field Guide to the War in Zululand
1879, University of Natal Press, 1979.
He is an ardent steam locomotive enthusiast, but has developed a deep interest in
the history of railways in South Africa, particularly in the construction and develop­
ment of the Natal Main Line.
 SHUTER & SHOOTER

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In 1925 Mr L.G. Shuter , grandson of a Natal pioneer and owner of

Vause, Slatter & Co. (established in 1840), was joined by Mr R.A .
Shooter, son of an old Eastern Province family , and together they
established Shuter & Shooter (Pty) Ltd.
A half century ago , Shuter & Shooter set a tradition of service
that will continue into the 80s and beyond .
Publishers, booksellers, educational contractors , library sup­
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 Long-tailed Widow
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In his striking breeding plu­

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an attractive and easily recognised
bi rd, familiar to travellers and farmers
in the Eastern Cape, the O.F.S. and the
higher parts of the Transvaal and Natal.
But will he always be there? Will he survive the widespread ecologi­
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of other species - som~ of them already rare - which make up
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To answer these questions conservationists, biologists, planners and
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The authors have travelled all over Natal in search of birds and have
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As well as providing scientists with an invaluable data base the maps
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By guiding him towards positive identification and enlarging his
knowledge of distribution the book will enhance the incomparable
delights of birdwatching.

Available now from leading booksellers at R18,60 + G.S.T.

PUBLISHED BY
University of Natal Press, Box 375. Pietermaritzburg, 3200. South Africa.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM NATALIA No. 9

REPRINT
On a Tough Missionary Post in Zululand - Part I
- Edited by Charles Ballard
Translated by Helen Feist

ARTICLES
Institute of Natural Resources - John Hanks
William Stanger and the early years of cartography
in Natal, 1845-1854 - Christopher Merrett

NOTES AND QUERIES

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES

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