ncrease of population, and I may add the
increase of riches,--for in these nomadic tribes cattle are the only
riches,--is the great cause of these descents from the north; for the
continued droughts which I have mentioned of four or five years compel
them to seek for pasture elsewhere, after their own is burnt up. At all
events, it appears that the Caffre nations have been continually
sustaining the pressure from without, both from the northward and the
southward, for many years.

"When the Dutch settled at the Cape, they took possession of the country
belonging to the Hottentot tribes, driving the few that chose to
preserve their independence into the Bushman and Namaqua lands,
increasing the population in those countries, which are only able to
afford subsistence to a very scattered few. Then, again, they
encroached upon the Caffres, driving them first beyond the great Fish
River, and afterwards still more to the northward. The Bushmen tribes
of hill Hottentots, if we may so term them, have also been increased by
various means, notwithstanding the constant massacres of the unhappy
people by the Dutch boors; moreover, we have by our injudicious colonial
regulations added another and a new race of people, who are already
considerable in their numbers."

"Which do you refer to?"

"To the people now known by the name of Griquas, from their having taken
possession of the Griqua country. They are the mixed race between the
Hottentots and the whites. By the Dutch colonial law, these people
could not hold possession of any land in the colony; and this act of
injustice and folly has deprived us of a very valuable race of men, who
might have added much to the prosperity of the colony. Brave and
intelligent, industrious to a great degree, they, finding themselves
despised on account of the Hottentot blood in their veins, have migrated
from the colony and settled beyond the boundaries. Being tolerably well
provided with fire-arms, those who are peaceably inclined can protect
themselves, while those who are otherwise commit great depredations upon
the poor savages, following the example shown them by the colonists, and
sweeping off their cattle and their property, in defiance of law and
justice. You now perceive, Alexander, how it is that there has been a
pressure from the southward."

"That is very evident," replied the Major.

"Perhaps I had better proceed to the northward by degrees, and make some
mention of the C