d they,
as Mr. Fairburn has stated to Alexander, dispossess the Hottentots of
their lands, and the Hottentots, unable to oppose their invaders,
gradually found themselves more and more remote from the possessions of
their forefathers.
"After a time, Africaner and his diminished clan found themselves
compelled to join and take service under a Dutch boor, and for some time
proved himself a most faithful shepherd in looking after and securing
the herds of his employer. Had the Dutch boor behaved with common
humanity, not to say gratitude, toward those who served him so well, he
might now have been alive; but, like all the rest of his countrymen, he
considered the Hottentots as mere beasts of burden, and at any momentary
anger they were murdered and hunted down as if they were wild animals.
"Africaner saw his clan daily diminished by the barbarity of his feudal
master, and at last resolved upon no further submission. As the Bushmen
were continually making attempts upon the cattle of the boor, Africaner
and his people had not only been well trained to fire-arms, but had them
constantly in their possession. His assumed master, having an idea that
there would be a revolt, resolved upon sending a portion of Africaner's
people to a distant spot, where he intended to secure them, and by their
destruction weaken the power of the clan.
"This, as he was a sort of magistrate, he had the power to enforce; but
Africaner, suspecting his views, resolved to defeat them. Order after
order was sent to the huts of Africaner and his people. They positively
refused to comply. They requested to be paid for their long services,
and be permitted to retire further into the interior. This was sternly
denied, and they were ordered to appear at the house of the boor.
Fearful of violence, yet accustomed to obey his order, Africaner and his
brothers went up; but one of his brothers concealed his gun under his
cloak. On their arrival, the boor came out and felled Africaner to the
ground. His brother immediately shot the boor with his gun, and thus did
the miscreant meet with the just reward of his villainies and murder.
"The wife, who had witnessed the murder of her husband, shrieked and
implored mercy; they told her that she need not be alarmed, but
requested that the guns and ammunition in the house should be delivered
up to them, which was immediately done. Africaner then hastened back to
his people, collected them and all his cattle, with wha
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