Mission Stations chapters G-H
G | H
G.
GABAZI, Libode, Cape: No data available
GABERONE, Botswana: SPG 1895
GAGA, Cape: GMS
GA LEKALEKALE, Transvaal: Bn
GA MATLALE, Transvaal: Bn
GA RATAU, Transvaal: Bn c1864. This station was reportedly burned down during Sekhukhuni's war of resistance against the British, in 1880. It was located on Chief Sebeke's lands. Sebeke, whose name was variously spelt as Speke or Sepeke, is reported to have been a Pedi chief. Alexander Merensky reported as follows on the construction of Ga Ratau:
"We used sun-dried bricks made by the men from inferior clay. Working with clay is usually women's work. The houses were built on a rocky hill, with the foundations laid straight onto the rocks and the walls built with sun-dried bricks. The people made bricks and fired them (in order to build a Mission chapel)".
GARNER'S DRIFT, Tsomo, Cape: No data available
GASELA'S TRIBE, Cape: WMS 1836
GATOOMA, Zimbabwe: WMMS
GCUWA, Butterworth, Cape: No data available. Gcuwa is the Xhosa name for Butterworth but this station is reported to have been located some 10km north of the town
GEALEKA MISSIONS, Cape: see WILLOWVALE, Cape
GENADENDAL, also known as HERNHUTH and BAVIAAN'S KLOOF, Cape: MorG 1736; abandoned in 1744, restarted in 1792; MMS Trade School. It was visited by Henry Lichtenstein in 1803 (p 189), who reported as follows:
"The same year (1799) the Brethren built a very neat church, from remittances sent them by the society in Europe, and the number of their disciples now amounts to nearly eleven hundred. Two hundred houses and huts, with gardens annexed to them, and built in regular rows, give this place the appearance of an European village; a sight which surprised me exceedingly, and for the first time brought in a lively manner to my mind the idea of my native country. Excepting this place, I never saw any thing in the whole colony bearing the least resemblance to a German village".
Lichtenstein also commended extensively on the buildings at Genadendal (pp 190-3):
"The next morning every different part of the institution was shewn to us; the church in the first place. It is a simple, neat quadrangular edifice, but the roof is too steep, and carried up to too sharp a ridge: this was done to give height to the building, and render it more conspicuous. Within are two rows of benches, and a simple pulpit; the utmost simplicity is, indeed, observable in every part of the building, but at the same time the due proportions are exceedingly well observed, and the workmanship is extremely neat. The timbers are all of sumach wood, the yellow tint and polish of which gives a sort of simple elegance to the appearance of the whole. The English government gave the Brethren permission to cut down as much timber as they wanted from the woods belonging to the company, free of expense.
"By the side of the church is the garden of the pastors, in the midst of which stands the large old pear-tree, planted by Schmidt himself, the original founder of the institution: benches are standing under its shade, and this is a favourite place of resort among the Brethren.
"The house inhabited by the Brethren has, besides the hall in which they assemble, and where they take their meals, two chambers for two of the couples, and various household conveniences; the other three couple lodge in small houses close by. Another house is appropriated to the manufacture of knives, of which Kuhnel is the director, and which begins already to be very profitable.
"Marsveld is the miller and has built a water-mill after the European manner, in which he grinds not only all the corn for the household and the Hottentots, but a great deal for the neighbouring colonists.
"The church, with the nearest houses, lie in the deepest recess of the valley, at the foot of the Bavianskloof, from which, in winter, the water sometimes rushes with great force, so that it has more than once overflowed the whole valley. The channel has, therefore, been lately enclosed between two strong walls, and several bridges have been made over it: a work of no small labour, and affording an additional proof of the industry and activity of these people. The Brethren proposed carrying this canal on as a benefit to the lands lying without the valley, and when two years after I visited this spot, for the last time, it was already extended six hundred paces farther".
Genadendal was also visited by William Burchell in 1811 when he recorded the following:
"To every philanthropist it could not fail to be a treat of the prest kind; to witness a despised and degraded portion of his fellow-creatures taken under the kind protection of those who have had the more fortunate lot of being born to the improvements of European knowledge; to behold them thus reclaimed from disgusting filthiness, to a decent cleanliness; from a wild, irregular life, to order and social rules; from uninstructed stupidity, to a knowledge and practice of morality and the useful arts of civilised man; in fine, from a gross ignorance of the Supreme Being, to a due sense of the superintending goodness of the Great Creator of the universe. When missionary labors produce effects such as these, every well-wisher of mankind will view them with respect. Such, at least, are the professed objects of this institution; and if some instances are to be found, which show that they have not in every case been attained, and that seed sown on a sterile soil has been unproductive, we are not on that account to shut our eyes against the many proofs of the utility of such an establishment as Genadendal. Every one acquainted with human nature, will be ready to acknowledge, that many difficulties must be overcome in the course of such an attempt. To inculcate the necessity of honest industry, as a chief moral duty, is in effect cutting off the root of, at least, half the miseries of the Hottentot race, and tends to make these people a more valuable part of the population of the colony. Their general quiet and harmless character gives them a superior claim to encouragement, and renders them friendly to the exiting government".
The dwellings of the Khoikhoi also evicted some comment from Burchell in 1811:
"The Vignette at the end of this chapter is a view of a part of the valley of Genadendal, showing the ordinary huts of the Hottentots, surrounded by plantations of peach-trees. The mountain there seen is part of Zwarteberg.
"The huts at Genadendal, unlike those of genuine Hottentot construction, which have an hemispherical shape, and are covered with mats, are merely a rude imitation of the quadrangular buildings of the colonists. Those which we saw, were generally from ten to fifteen feet long, and from eight to ten wide, having an earthen floor, and walls white-washed on their inside, composed of rough unhewn posts, filled up between with reeds and rushes plastered with mud, and the whole covered with a roof of thatch. The eaves being in general not higher from the ground than four or six feet, the doors could not be entered without stooping. A small unglazed window admitted light; but there was neither chimney, nor any other opening in the roof, by which the smoke might escape.
"Some of the huts exhibited superior workmanship, being divided by a partition wall into two rooms, and were exceedingly neat and clean. A table, two or three chairs, and a box, all manufactured by the Hottentots themselves, made up the principal part of the furniture. A few families, who had been long established here, lived in houses of a much better description, built of square sawn beams, and walls partly of bricks and partly of mud hardened in the sun. One house, situated in a line of huts called Molen-straat (Mill-street), contained a small hand-mill, where three Hottentots were busily employed in grinding their corn.
"This mill was remarkable for its very simple construction: the essential parts of its mechanism where merely two horizontal stones, of two feet in diameter, and three handles. The under-stone was fixed, about three feet from the ground, in a circular frame or box of wood, elevated above it high enough to prevent the upper stone, when in motion, from flying off. The inner surface of each stone was channelled in the same manner as we observe in the mill-stones in England; while the upper on was perforated by a funnel-shaped hole of the form of an inverted cone, into which the corn, in small quantities, was continually thrown by hand. In the upper surface of the moving stone was fixed a stout cylindric pin of iron. The handle was a horizontal stick about four feet long, one end of which was fastened by a piece of raw hide to the iron pin; while the other was supported by ropes suspended from different parts of the roof. By alternately pushing forward and pulling back these handles, the upper stone was made to turn round with any desired degree of velocity, and at the same time discharged the flour by a spout in the side of the circular box. The greatest inconvenience of such a mill consists in its having no means for regulating the degree of fineness or coarseness of the meal; but for this country, where regular millwrights are seldom to be found, it possesses a most important advantage, in being so easy of construction, that every farmer may make one for himself. It is, in fact, often to be met with in the houses of the boors, having, most probably, been by them originally introduced into this colony".
Burchell also commented on how Genadendal's women augmented their incomes by manufacturing reed mats:
"The women here, besides all their domestic employments, earn a little money by the sale of mats, which they manufacture from a kind of rush, very common in the rivers of this district. These rushes are sometimes so long as to admit of being made into mats six feet in width: this is not done in the manner of interweaving, but by placing them parallel to each other, and transversely with respect to the length of the mat, connecting them at every five or six inches by cords, made either of the same material, or of the bark of the Karoo thorn-tree, run through them the whole length of the mat, by means of a long wooden or bone needle".
A year later, on 30 December 1812, John Campbell was to give this description:
"Genadendal was full in view before us. Their large church was very conspicuous at a distance. The settlement lies at the end of a valley, closely surrounded, except in one direction, with great mountains. At a distance it has more the appearance of a garden than a town. As we passed the houses, we were gratified by the civilized appearance of many of the Hottentots, although others were dressed in their loose sheepskins. They saluted us in a friendly manner, and the children seemed highly diverted to see us moving along. At length we arrived at the houses of the missionary brethren, where we were received with much christian affection. A more pleasant spot than that in which they dwell can hardly be imagined; ...
"At eight o'clock we repaired to their chapel, which will contain upwards of a thousand people, every part of which was filled with Hottentots".
In about 1833 Eugene Casalis visited Genadendal and reported as follows:
"After some fatiguing stages I reached Gnadenthal on the hottest day I ever remember, which is saying much. Towards mid-day I found myself at the entrance of a narrow valley which widened further down, and a murmur of running waters saluted my ears. Soon, on both sides of the road, appeared some small well-kept houses surrounded by fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Women, with woolly hat and yellow complexions, were to be seen through the windows occupied in various households duties. At each turn of the road I remarked that the cottages became more and more like houses.
"Suddenly, while I was occupied in examining a kind of public square and the outlines of a steeple which appeared in the distance, he stopped me. 'Here', said he, 'is the place where our pastors, the Moravian Brethren, desire strangers to stop and refresh themselves before going to salute them'.
"I was promptly installed in an airy whitewashed chamber, whose walls were somewhat darkened by the foliage of some fine shrubs planted before the windows. There were in it some chairs, a table covered with a white cloth, a bed, and everything requisite for copious ablutions.
"When the repast was finished the bishop invited me to come with him and have a look round the station. What a contrast with the primitive Hottentot village! I found myself in a kind of square, all the buildings of which were occupied by the families of the missionaries, except the schools and depots containing the products of the common industry. These houses, painted yellow, to modify the effect of the sun, were surrounded with trees of dense foliage. In the middle of the square was a fine church, seating nearly 2000 people, and surmounted by a light spire.
"M. Teutsch took me first to the schools. They were three in number: one for the infants; the others for the boys and the girls. The master and the mistresses were Hottentots. They taught in Dutch and English together, the Hottentot language having disappeared with the nationality of the old possessors of the country.
"In passing out of the central square the plash of a fountain attracted my attention. It fell into a reservoir, where women were busy washing linen. There was no lack of soap, which was made at the station. A little further on some immense wheels, placed under the weir, furnished motive power for the corn and cutlery mills. I was glad to buy one or two of those knives whose finely-tempered steel are so much appreciated by the colonists of the Cape, and which are known by the name of Herrn-hunters. To these industries are added a sawmill, and the works where are constructed those heavy rolling structures so often described under the name of Cape wagons. In all these workshops the sole artisans are Hottentots, directed by the missionaries.
"My guide now conducted me across some kitchen gardens, orchards, and well-cultivated wheat fields, until we arrived before an iron grating, above which were written the words, 'They are sown in corruption'. It was the cemetery of Gnadenthal.”
GENGELEKA, Transkei, Cape: No data available
GEORGE, Cape: SPG 1850; DRCSA 1858
GEORGENAU, Natal: See EMSENI, Natal
GEORGENHOLTZ, also known as NEU GEORGENHOLTZ, Transvaal: Bn 1877
GEORGETOWN, Cape: SPG 1845; DRCSA 1849
GERLACHSHOOP, also spelt GERLATHSHOOP, Transvaal: Bn 1904. It was formerly known as RIETKLOOF. Alexander Merensky reported as follows:
"Gerlachshoop Mission Station was established next to Maleo's town, fifteen German miles out of Lydenburg, on land donated by the chief.
"The first thing we had to do was to rebuild the water channel, which was 1500 paces long, a task which took fourteen days. Other labourers erected thornbush fences for a kraal and I began a log house, the kind of dwelling we always erect first on a new mission station. Other houses whose walls consisted of sods, followed. Log structures last quite well as long as they are built with termite-resistant wood. Four corner posts are put into the ground, and thinner posts for the walls are places in between. Horizontal poles are then nailed and bound to them. (A horizontal beam placed at about eaves height would have been necessary in order to make this structure work as described: Editor). Reeds are filled in vertically and finally dagga is packed in and smeared inside and out. The walls and the dagga floor are smoothed. The roof consists of lightweight beams and is thatched. Our houses measured 8 by 4 paces; my little window was closed with a fixed piece of cloth but the door was left open. At the river, where we found usable clay, we started a brickyard with some natives who had learned the trade during their years as migrant labourers. We constructed the stone moulds and stone kilns and got to work erecting a larger house with fired bricks. Lime is used only as a whitewash, because it is so difficult to get. We fired some limestone, which had been carted in from a site 5 hour's away, in an open kiln. With this lime, used as a mortar, we laid a brick foundation to prevent termites from reaching the woodwork of the walls and roof. Alas, within a year, the thatched roof was infested, but this stopped at the end of the beams in the corner of the house. We had dipped the beam ends into aloe sap and the trusses were of termite resistant wood".
Missionary endeavours at Gerlachshoop also involved the transmission of building skills to the local population. The missionary body obviously shouldered the "white man's burden” with a sense of responsibility:
"We taught our workers to lay bricks ... The missionary learns to understand the natives, their customs and character, by working alongside them at mundane tasks, such as those neccessary to permit a station to be self-sufficient in housing and food production. German artisans, sent out to establish the mission station, were of no great help. They regarded the natives as servants and frequently misunderstood them. The natives in turn would become bitter and suspicious towards the missionaries".
GERLACHSTAL, OFS: see SPRINGFONTEIN, OFS
GERMISTON, Transvaal: FMA 1897
GERTRUGSBERG, Transvaal: Bn 1899
GIBEON, Namibia: RM 1863
GIDJA, Mocambique: MSR
GIKUKI, Mocambique: MEFB 1893; SPG 1898
GILLESPIE, Mount Ayliff, Cape: UFS 1889
GILLTON, Alice, Cape: outstation of KNAPP'S HOPE, Middledrift
GINGA'S, Lusikisiki, Cape: No data available
GINGCO, Transkei, Cape: No data available
GLEN ADELAIDE, Glen Grey, Cape: No data available
GLEN AVENT, Umtata, Cape: Convent, no further data available
GLEN AVON, Somerset East, Cape: PCSA
GLEN COWIE, Transvaal: Rc 1923
GLENDALE, Natal: NMS; SAM
GLENFIELDS, East London, Cape: No data available
GLEN GREY, Cape: WMMS 1850-1862, founded after HASLOPE HILLS and IMVANI were abandoned
GLEN LYNDEN, Tabankulu, Cape: DRCSA 1891; GMS
GLENTHORN, Adelaide, Cape: GAMS 1840; PCSA 1897
GLOVUKAZI, Cape: WMS 1849
GNANI, also spelt GINANI, near Dingane's capital, Natal: ABCFM 1836
GOAS, Namibia: Rc 1940
GOBABIS, Namibia: Rc 1907; RM
GOEDE HOOP, Natal, but possibly in Transvaal: HM 1873
GOEDEHOOP, Transvaal, but possibly in Natal: HM 1873
GOEDGEDACHT, Transvaal: DRCSA
GOEDVERWACHT, Cape: MorG 1889
GOGOYO, Mocambique: ABCFM 1917
GOLUNGO ALTO, Angola: see ST HILARION, Angola
GONA, Butterworth, Cape: see BUTTERWORTH, Cape
GOOD HOPE, Mount Fletcher, Cape: No data available
GOOD HOPE, Stutterheim, Cape: No data available, but may have been NTEMBANI
GOOLDVILLE, Transvaal: UFS 1905
GORDONIA, Cape: DRCSA 1871
GORDON MEMORIAL, also known as UMSINGA, Natal: UFS 1870
GOR MATLALE, Transvaal: Bn 1865
GOSHEN, also spelt GOSEN, Cathcart, Cape: MorG 1850
GOUDINI, Cape: DRCSA 1890
GOWAN LEA, Umzimkulu, Cape: No data available
GQAQALA, St Cuthberts, Cape: SPG 1882
GQELANA, Transkei, Cape: No data available
GQOGQORHA, Tsomo,Cape: No data available
GQUBONCO, Engcobo, Cape: No data available
GQUKUNGA, Qumbu, Cape: No data available
GQUMAHASHE, Cape: see BUCHANAN, Cape
GRAAFF-REINET, Cape: LMS 1822; DRCSA 1829; CUSA 1842; SPG 1845; SAfMS 1845; WMS 1848
GRACE, also known as POPENYAAN, Natal, but possibly in Swaziland: CN 1912
GRACEHILL, Colesberg, Cape: LMS 1814. The station was moved to HEPHZIBAH at some later stage, probably before 1844
GRAHAMSTOWN, Cape: SPG 1821; WMS 1826; CUSA; DGT; LMS
GREENHILL, Natal: SAM
GREENVILLE, Cape: see GRENVILLE, Bizana, Cape
GRENVILLE, Bizana, Cape: FMA 1903
GREYTOWN, Natal: SAfMS
GRIQUATOWN, Cape: LMS 1802. Originally known as KLAARWATER, the name was changed to GRIQUATOWN in 1813 by the Rev John Campbell. It was visited in October 1811 by William Burchell, who reported extensively upon the village and its inhabitants:
"Not far from here, is the spot where these missionaries first established themselves in 1801, at a place called Aakaap by the Hottentots, or Rietfontein (Reed Fountain) in Dutch. They afterwards removed to The Kloof, but finally fixed their head-quarters at Klaarwater, as being a situation more central with respect to the different out-posts, or kraals, occupied by this race of Hottentots.
"I accompanied the three missionaries round the village, to take a cursory view of the different parts of it; the huts of the Hottentots, their own dwellings; the house for religious meeting and school instruction1; their storehouse, and their garden. When I considered that this little community, and the spot on which I stood, were nearly eight hundred miles deep in the interior of Africa, I could not but look upon every object of their labors with double interest; and received, at that moment a pleasure, unalloyed by the knowledge of a single untoward circumstance. The Hottentots peeped out of their huts to have a look at me; and I fancied they appeared glad at having one more white man amongst them.
"The above engraving is a view of the Church. The furthest building is the dwelling-house of one of the missionaries; and the intermediate hut is a storehouse. Beyond these is shown a part of the ridge, which is represented at the head of Chapter 20.
"From the moment when I decided on making Klaarwater in my way to the Interior, I naturally endeavured to form, in my own mind, some picture of it; and I know not by what mistake it arose, that I should conceive the idea of its being a picturesque spot surrounded by trees and gardens, with a river running through a neat village, where a tall church stood, a distant beacon to mark that Christianity had advanced thus far into the wilds of Africa. But the first glance now convinced me how false may oftentimes be the notions which men form of what they have not seen. The trees of my imagination vanished, leaving nothing in reality but a few which the missionaries themselves had planted; the church sunk to a barn-like building of reeds and mud; the village was merely a row of half a dozen reed cottages; the river was but a rill; and the situation an open, bare, and exposed place, without any appearance of a garden, excepting that of the missionaries.
"It would be very unfair towards those who have devoted themselves to a residence in a country, where they are cut off from communication with civilized society, and deprived of all its comforts, to attribute this low state of civilization and outward improvement, to a want of solicitude on their part. Their continual complaint, indeed, was of the laziness of the Hottentots, and of the great difficulty there had always been in persuading them to work, either on the buildings or in the garden; and in this complaint there was too much truth.
"A small channel, conducting from a spring in the upper part of the mead to some huts and corn-land below, supplied us with plenty of good water. The station, like every one in the vicinity, was open and exposed; but it had a pleasant prospect of the whole of the village, to which a narrow path led across the mead.
"The neighbourhood was first reconnoitered, to ascertain where firewood was to be found; but this article had been every where consumed by the inhabitants of the kraal, and was to be procured only at a great distance.
"This being Sunday, I attended the service in the church, or meeting-house. The building which they call so was rudely built of rough unhewn timber and reeds, covered with a thatched roof, and having a smooth, hard earthen floor, kept in order by being frequently smeared with cow-dung, in the manner practised by the colonists. Within, the sides were plastered with mud; and, being whitewashed with a kind of clay, which is found near the river, they looked tolerably clean; but the rafters and thatch constituted the only ceiling. The eaves were about six feet from the ground. The upright posts, the beams and rafters, were either of Acacia or Willow, and tied together with strips of Acacia-bark. The space within the building was a long parallelogram, which, when quite filled, might perhaps contain a congregation of three hundred persons, in the way in which them Hottentots squat on the ground; for there were no seats, excepting about a dozen, which some of the more civilized of the auditors had provided themselves with. On one of the longer sides the door-way was placed, and opposite to it, a pulpit raised a step above the floor.
"This is the ordinary routine of the business of the mission as I observed it during the four months which, at different times, I spent at Klaarwater. And, with respect to its effects in forwarding the object of it, I cannot say that they appeared to me very evident: certainly, I saw nothing that would sanction me in making such favorable reports as have been laid before the public.
"The village itself is situated close on the eastern side of a low rocky ridge, composed of an argillaceous slate or stone, divisible into thin lamina like that of the Asbestos mountains; between which, however, no asbestos has hitherto been observed. On one side is a long grassy mead of irregular shape, and containing above a hundred acres. This, being the lowest ground, receives the drainings and springs of the whole valley, and is, in some places, of a boggy nature. It is covered with coarse grass, and, by a little trouble and management, might be converted into gardens for the Hottentots, in the same manner as at Genadendal, and seems excellently suited for the purpose. The soil is a dark mould; and springs, rising in different parts of it, yield a never-failing stream of water during the whole year. I found this water clear and wholesome at all times: it is, however, of a calcareous nature, as is evident by the substance deposited on the roots and stems of the reeds and sedge along its course. All these springs, collected into a small rill, take their course through the mountains southward, by an outpost called Leeuwenkuil (Lion's-den), and passing by Grootedoorn (Great-thorn), another outpost, join the Great River, after running a distance of forty miles. The whole substratum of this part of the country, for many leagues northward and eastward, is a hard limestone rock of primitive formation; and on this, rest the laminated argillaceous mountains. This limestone rock in no place rises into mountains, but often forms the surface of a great extent of country. I never saw in it any marks of extraneous fossils. The soil on the higher grounds surrounding the valley, is remarkably red, being a mixture of sand and clay, which produces bushes and a variety of plants; but is subject to great drought during the summer.
"The number of (Khoikhoi) houses immediately round the church, is not greater than twenty-five; but at a distance, within the same valley, nearly as many more are scattered about; and there are three or four at Leeuwenkuil, a place between the mountains, and about a mile and a half distant. Within fifty miles, in various directions, are nearly a dozen other out-posts; but they are not always inhabited: of these, the largest is the Kloof.
"The aggregate number of inhabitants at Klaarwater and the out-stations, amounted in the year 1809, as I was informed, to seven hundred and eighty-four souls; and it was supposed that at this time it had not decreased: for, although some had left them and returned into the Cape colony, others had been added from that quarter in an equal proportion. The Koras and (San) living within the Klaarwater district, cannot be considered as belonging to the establishment, since they show no desire to receive the least instruction from the missionaries, nor do they attend their meetings, but continue to remove from place to place, a wild independent people.
"The tribe of (Khoikhoi) now at Klaarwater, had its origin from the two families of the Mixed Race, of the name of Kok and Berends, who, about forty years ago, preferring their freedom on the banks of the Great River to a residence within the Cape colony, where they had acquired a few sheep in the service of the farmers, emigrated thither from the Kamiesberg with all their cattle and friends. These were, from time to time, joined by others of the same race, who found their life under the boors not so agreeable as they wished. Thus, their increasing numbers rendered them an object worth the attention of the missionaries; whose station amongst the Bushmen at Zak River, happened to break up about the year 1800. These Hottentots appearing to offer an easier and more promising soil for their labors, the missionaries attached themselves to them, and followed them in all their wanderings along the river, till they were at last persuaded to remain stationary at Aakapp, and finally at Klaarwater; which, at the time they took possession of it, was a (San) kraal.
"The existence of this little community of (Khoikhoi), was well known to the colonists under the name of the Bastaards, because the whole of them were at that time, of the Mixed Race. They had always professed, among themselves, the Christian religion; and at one time were the dupes of a religious impostor, named Stephanus.
"The dwellings of the missionaries stand close together in a line with the meeting-house, forming, with two others in a parallel line, a kind of street, in the middle of which stood, at this time, a stuffed camelopard, which, being much weather-beaten and decayed, was soon afterwards taken down. This object, reminding me that I was in the country where these animals were to be beheld alive, added a pleasing and very interesting feature to this little village.
"The only piece of masonry was the foundations of a large building, intended to comprise under one roof a meeting-house and the dwellings of the missionaries; but its only use is to prove that a plan of rendering the mission respectable in its appearance was once entertained. It was commenced, I believe, about seven years before my visit to Klaarwater, and was carried on with spirit by the united labor of the whole community, until the walls reached the height of five or six feet; and in this state it has remained ever since, and still continues, without any prospect of being completed. This neglect is attributed to the temper of the (Khoikhoi), who, like children pleased with a new toy, which is soon thrown aside, at first laboured readily at the work, and would not have deserted it if three or four months could have brought it to a conclusion; but finding, after the novelty of the job had worn off, that nothing was left but hard labor, their little stock of exertion and patience became exhausted, and the thing was given up as an undertaking of too great a magnitude. There was no want of materials; since their mortar was obtained close at hand, being merely mud, and the adjoining hill supplied the stone, which was formed by nature of shapes the best adapted for masonry: while timber might easily be procured from the banks of the Gariep, or even much nearer. The business of sawing planks has not yet been introduced here; but two or three people work as blacksmiths, although in a very bungling manner.
"The only means of rendering this mission permanent, is to induce these people to acquire property in immoveable buildings, and in gardens well stocked with fruit-trees. These they would be unwilling to desert, on account of the labor and time that would be required to procure the same advantages on another spot. To persuade them to erect such buildings, had been, as Mr Anderson informed me, his constant endeavour; and it was not without reason that he complained of the laziness of the people, and of their unwillingness to regulate their conduct by his instructions and advice. It is certainly not an easy task to change the customs and prejudices of any people; but still, however, it may in many cases be done; and, whenever improvements more conducive to their happiness can be substituted in the place of their own rude notions, the attempt may conscientiously be made, and, to a certain extent, persevered in".
Burchell also described Captain Dam's homestead as follows:
"We also visited Captain Dam, as he is called, the (Khoikhoi) chief of Klaarwater, who holds a sort of authority over one-half of this tribe (of Mixwed Khoikhoi); while Captain Berends is, in like manner, the regulator and commander of the other half. His name was Adam Kok: he appeared to be under the middle age, with a countenance indicative of a quiet disposition. My visit to him required no explanations, as the missionaries had already made him acquainted with every thing respecting me. His hut, which was close behind the missionary's, was not better than those of other Hottentots; but was made of mats, in the usual hemispherical form.
"The vignette at the head of Chapter 20 is a representation of Captain Dam's hut, and of his wagon of which mention is made in the following chapter. Behind them are seen some of the trees of the missionary's garden, enclosed by a hedge of dry bushes. The trunk of a tree is fixed up near the hut, for the purpose of preparing (or, as they call it, breyen) leathern reims, and for hanging game and various other things upon. Such an apparatus is called by them, and by the colonists, who also make use of it, a Brey-paal. On the ridge in the distance may be seen, just above the Brey-paal, a part of the road leading to Ongeluk's Fontein".
Upon a subsequent visit, in 1812, Burchell commented upon the increase in size of the settlement at Klaarwater.
"At my former visit to this village, the number of mat-huts was twenty, it was now twenty-five. This increase of population was occasioned by the return home of those families who had been residing with their cattle on the banks of the Gariep during the dry season".
In 1812 William Burchell also noted fluctuations in the Khoikhoi population of Klaarwater.
"On our road this afternoon, we met a party of men, women, and children, with their huts and all their goods, removing from Klaarwater to the Asbestos mountains. The whole family, with mats, sticks, utensils, and skins, packed all together on the backs of the oxen, and moving along with a steady pace, presented a curious group, which might have been fancied to bear some resemblance to the journeyings of the people of patriarchal days, notwithstanding the dignity, and splendid robes, with which modern painters have thought proper to invest them. At least, their bringing to recollection, a party of Gypsies in England, removing from one county to another, is an idea less fanciful and speculative. We stopped a few minutes to answer each other's questions as to the whence, the whither, the when, and the wherefore of our journeys; nor did I forget to ask the men if they would like a trip to Graafreynet.
The next visitor of note to visit the Mission was John Campbell in June 1813 when Klaarwater changed its name to Griquatown.
"The whole people likewise resolved that henceforth they should be called Griquas, instead of Bastard (Khoikhoi), and the place called Griqua-town, instead of Klaar Water".
Two months later, in August 1813, John Campbell also commented on local craft skills.
"Trades can scarcely be said to exist in Griqualand. There are some who may be termed bambus-makers, or makers of vessels of wood for holding milk or water. Some can do a little at smith's-work, in repairing waggons, and one man (Fortuyn at Hardcastle) can construct a waggon. From the appearance of the new meeting-house they are building, which stands unfinished, there must be tolerably good masons among them. The women make mats of rushes. Upon the whole, I believe this mission has been a great blessing to this part of Africa".
John Campbell returned to Griquatown in March 1820 when he recorded the following:
"I walked with Mr Helm to call upon some of the people in their own houses. Among others we visited a little cluster of huts about a quarter of a mile from the town. They have many dwellings, which are called round-houses, in the town; one such is at this little village, it is built of stone about the height of five feet, and fifteen feet diameter, with a conical roof, a door, and one window. The same Griqua who inhabited the round-house was also building a square one of stone, about thirty feet by twelve, with a door and three windows. The walls were well built and nearly finished. When completed, he meant to use the round-house as a store. Three Griqua women, dressed in the European fashion, were sewing some cotton articles; three or four others came from the huts dressed in the same manner; to all of whom I made presents of needles, thread, thimbles, etc".
In about 1836 Arbousset and Daumas commented upon the condition of the Khoikhoi population of Griquatown:
"They now live at Griqua Town and Campbell's Dorp. They have given up their miserable huts for houses more healthy, and more commodious; and their sheepskin cloaks for European clothing.
Griquatown was subsequently visited by James Backhouse in September 1839 when he recorded the following:
"Griqua Town is situated on the edge of an extensive, limestone plain, and at the foot of a range of low hills of silicious schistus, producing yellow asbestos. Its original name was Klaarwater, "Clearwater", taken form its clear and copious spring, which not only supplied the town, but watered the vale extending toward the Orange River. At the time of our visit, a drought which had lasted about six years, had reduced this spring to a standing pool; the water did not reach the surface by a foot and a half, notwithstanding that a few smaller springs, which were more superficial, within two or three miles, continued to flow. The gardens and adjacent lands were desolate; a solitary peach-tree and a few fig-trees were all that survived in the former; and few of the Griquas remained upon the place. Many of the houses, that had been forsaken in consequence of the drought, were in ruins. The occupied houses were those of the Chief, the Missionaries, the school-teachers and a few others. But in the vicinity there were some Basutu villages, inhabited by people who were rescued by the Chief, Andries Waterboer, from the Bergenaars, who were a horde of banditti that separated from the Griquas of this place.
"In the annexed etching of Griqua Town, the houses of the missionaries and teachers, with the schools, the chapel, and some other buildings, form the irregular line on the left, and that of the chief, with two mat huts at the end, is at a distance, in front. Those at the foot of the bushy, schistose hill in the foreground were in ruins.
"Many of the houses of Griqua Town were of raw brick, plastered with clay and cow-dung. Lime entered largely into the composition of the clay, and consequently, the brick would not stand when burnt; in the raw state it endured the weather well".
Twenty years later, in about 1859, John MacKenzie was to paint a somewhat different picture.
"But some years before my first visit, the once prosperous villages of Gruiqua Town and Campbell had been ruined by the drying up of the fountains – the apparent strength of which had been the chief reason for their selection as sites for villages. At Griqua Town everything bore the evidence of former prosperity. But the gardens and fields were now parched up and quite uncultivated, while many of the houses were deserted and in ruins. The impression produced on our minds was one of sadness and disappointment. But when we had visited some of the neighbouring homesteads, and saw the manner in which the people were living, our feelings were considerably changed. Both in Griqua Town district and Philippolis we found some of the people in possession of houses, waggons, and clothing quite equal to those of many Dutch farmers".
By the time Frederick Selous visited it in November 1871 Griquatown had fallen upon distinctly hard times:
"On November 9th we trekked, and reached Griqua Town the following day. This place, like Campbell's-dorp, must have seen better days, but was now almost deserted".
GROENE KLOOF, Cape: see MAMRE, Cape
GROOTFONTEIN, Namibia: Rc 1908; RM 191O
GROOTFONTEIN, OFS: LMS
GROUTVILLE, also known as UMVOTI, Natal: ABCFM 1845
GUAB, Namibia: RM 1895
GUBA, Cape: see INDWE, Cape
GUBENXA, Engcobo, Cape: No data available
GULDBRANDSDALEN, location not known: RM
GUNGULULU, Transkei, Cape: No data available
GUQAZA, Ngqeleni, Cape: No data available
GURHA, Qumbu, Cape: No data available
GUTU'S, Zimbabwe: DRCSA 1900
GUZI, Elliotdale, Cape: No data available
GWADU, Willowvale, Cape: No data available
GWALI, also known as TYUMIE POST or CHUMIE, Alice, Cape: GMS 1820, destroyed in 1846
GWALI, Stutterheim, Cape: see EMGWALI, Stutterheim, Cape
GWALIWENI, Natal: SAM
GWANDA, Zimbabwe: SFM 1920
GWANGA, Peddie, Cape: WMS 1841, destroyed in 1846 and never rebuilt
GWELO, Transkei, Cape: No data available
GWELO, Zimbabwe: SDA 1901
GWUTYA, also spelt GWYTYA and GWYTYU, Queenstown, Cape: see ST PETER'S, Queenstown, Cape
GXARHA, Transkei, Cape: No data available
GXULU, East London, Cape: No data available
H.
HACKNEY, Whittlesea, Cape: CUSA, LMS
HALAMBU, also spelt JALAMBU, Natal: Sch 1922
HAMBANATHI, Natal: ABCFM 1835-1850
HANKEY, Humansdorp, Cape: LMS 1822; CUSA 1825. It was visited by James Backhouse in November 1838 (pp 146, 147), who recorded it as follows:
"We visited the cottages (of the Khoikhoi), many of which were neat and clean, white within and without; several were divided into two rooms, and had funnel-chimneys, to allow the escape of the smoke of their little, wood fires. Fires are often made in the middle of the floors of Hottentots' huts, and the smoke escapes by the door, or any hole it can find in the thatch. The number of dwellings at Hankey is considerable, and several more of neat construction are in progress. The settlement is situated on a little bushy flat, on the Camtoos River, capable, in common seasons, of irrigation and of cultivation to a considerable extent.
"The chapel is a neat, plain building. In order to accommodate the Temperance Tea Meeting, the tables were placed in a line down the centre, with three rows of seats facing them on each side. At the time appointed for the meeting, notice was given by striking a suspended wheel-tire, that supplied the place of a bell. The men assembled on one side of the chapel, and women on the other, according to their common mode of sitting".
HANOVER, Cape: DRCSA 1878
HAPPY VALLEY, Cathcart, Cape: No data available
HARAN, Natal: SAM 1923
HARAWI, Zimbabwe: DRCSA
HARDCASTLE, Cape: LMS. It was visited by John Campbell in August 1813 where he reported that Chief Barends had agreed to build more permanent structures:
"Most of the stones of which the mountains here are composed are yellow, and sound like bell-metal on falling against each other: they are conveniently formed for building, being generally flat. They intend immediately to begin erecting a meeting-house for the worship of God. On finishing this, Bern, the Captain, and some others, design to build better houses for themselves, to which we have frequently urged them, as calculated to wean them more effectually from a wandering life, to which they still feel a propensity; and, as an ox can carry on its back any of the houses in which most of them now live, they are encouraged, by this facility of removing, often to take long and needless journies with their cattle".
Campbell also recorded that:
"A meeting-house of stone stands unfinished here, the same as at Griqua town: the best house at Griqua town is also in the same state, and so is the best house here. They are very defective in perseverance; but they have engaged soon to finish all these works”.
HARDENBERG, Natal: Rc
HARDENBURG, possibly also known as HEIDELBERG, Matatiele, Cape: No data available
HARDING, Natal: CMML 1922
HARLEM, Cape: Bn
HARLEYTON, Zimbabwe: WMS
HARMSFONTEIN, Cape: RM
HARMSHOPE, also known as RAMUTSA, Botswana: HM 1865
HARRISMITH, OFS: SAfMS 1862; SPG 1864; DRCSAO 1898
HASLOP, Cape: LMS
HASLOPE HILLS, Tarkastad, Cape: WMMS 1839. Thomas Baines visited it in October 1849 and recorded the following:
"On the side the valley and close under the hill I was standing on was the native village, composed of huts and reed houses of all sorts and shapes and inhabited by the various tribes, Basutos, Bechuanas, Mantatees, Fingoes, Hottentots and others, attached to the institution.
“Saturday, October 6th. Walked through the native village and sketched the motley group of huts and kraals, some of reed, some clay and one or two of the kraals of stone. The sun was just rising beyond the great Table Mountain and tinting the edge of the heavy masses of mist with its golden light, while its increasing warmth was gradually breaking up and dispersing them and momentarily revealing more and more of the landscape. Small jets of smoke issuing from every crevice of the huts shewed that the inmates were beginning to move, and presently out crept one from one hut, and two or three from another, till at last the village was astir; and the people, as varied and motley in their dress and countenance as the places they inhabited, separated to their different employment, the chief of which is, invariably, milking the cows, and driving out and tending the cattle".
HA TSEEHEWASSE, also spelt SHEWASS or HA TSEVASE, Transvaal: Bn 1872
HEALDTOWN, also known as BERKLANDS or BIRKLANDS, Fort Beaufort, Cape: LMS 1845; SAfMS 1856; WMS
HEBRON, Lesotho, but possibly in OFS: P 1846
HEBRON, Natal: HM 1862
HEBRON, OFS, but possibly in Lesotho: P 1846; Bn
HEBRON, Swaziland: SAGM 1895
HEBRON, Transvaal: HM 1866
HEILDELBERG, possibly also known as HARDENBURG, Matatiele, Cape: Bn 1875
HEIDELBERG, Transvaal: Bn 1875; DRCSAT 1895; WMMS
HEILBRON, OFS: DRCSAO 1879; SAfMS 1882
HELY GROVE, Umtata, Cape: No data available
HEMEL EN AARDE, Cape: MorG
HEMELROOD, Cape: DRCSA
HENDERSON, Cathcart, Cape: GMS 1864
HEPHZIBAH, Colesberg, Cape: LMS before 1820. It was visited by John Campbell in September 1820 who made the following report:
"We halted among low hills, on the spot where the Missionary station once stood. The ruins of their oven remained, and the ditch by which they had led water from a fountain to their fields and gardens could easily be traced.
HERBERTSDALE, Cape: Bn 1872
HERMANNSBURG, also spelt HERMANSBURG, Natal: see BOSCOMBE, Natal
HERMON, Cape: DRCSA
HERMON, Lesotho: P 1853
HERNHUTH, Cape: see GENADENDAL, Cape
HERSCHEL, also known as ST MICHAELS, Cape: SPG 1878; DGT
HERTZOG, Cape: Society not known, 1829-1851
HET STRAND, Cape: see SOMERSET STRAND, Cape
HIGHFLATS, Natal: SPG 1864; DNa; WMMS
HIGHVIEW, Butterworth, Cape: No data available
HILTON, Cape: see WHITTLESEA, Cape
HIMMELBERG, Natal: Rc
HINTZA'S TRIBE, Cape: WMS 1826
HLAMBANKULU, Mocambique: SPG 1897
HLABATHI, Lusikisiki, Cape: No data available
HLABENI, Nqamakwe, Cape: No data available
HLANGEZWA, near Umhlatuzi River, Natal: ABCFM 1837
HLANGMOYA, Mocambique: SPG 1900
HLOBO, Ngqeleni, Cape: No data available
HLWAHLWAZI, Flagstaff, Cape: No data available
HOACHANAS, also spelt HOAXANAS, Namibia: RM
HOBE, Umzimkulu, Cape: No data available
HODE, Mount Ayliff, Cape: No data available, but may have been a mis-spelling of RHODE,
HOFFENTHAL, also spelt HOFFENTAL, Natal: Bn 1868
HOLY CROSS, Lusikisiki, Cape: No data available
HOLY TRINITY, Fort Beaufort, Cape: No data available
HOOGE KRAAL, Cape: see PACALTSDORP, Cape
HOOLESFONTEIN, Namibia: DRCSA
HOPEDALE, Cape: LMS
HOPE FOUNTAIN, Zimbabwe: LMS 1860; LMS Trade School 1898
HOPETOWN, Cape: Society not known
HORTON, Peddie, Cape: WMS
HOTOLOS, Matatiele, Cape: No data available
HOUTKLOOF, Cape: MorG
HUMANSDORP, Cape: SPG
HUNYANI, Zimbabwe: SPG