g tribes--such were the primitive Bantu. Let the reader
substitute "Bantu" for "Germani" in Tacitus's classic description, or
for "Britons" in any accurate portrayal of the manners and customs of
the early inhabitants of the British Isles, and he will catch the true
_spirit_ of life as it was among the primitive Bantu before the advent
of the European missionary and trader.

The missionary, first as civilizer and educator, later as protagonist
of the political rights of the Bantu, has been a potent factor in
their development. "To the Bantu, perhaps more than to any other
people," says Mr. S. M. Molema, himself a member of that race, "the
missionaries have stood for civilization, Christianization and
education."[2] Niggardly and inadequate governmental appropriations
for common schools have been supplemented by missionary funds, and in
many cases missionary funds alone have supported and are still
supporting native schools. "In short, every educated member of the
Bantu race, no matter how great or small his education may be, is
directly or indirectly a product of the mission school."[3] This fact
should be borne in mind whenever one considers the relations which
exist between the native and the government. The Bantu feel that the
missionary, and not the government, is responsible for their
enlightenment, and it is to the missionary that their gratitude is
poured out.

What has been the attitude of the other class of Dutch and British
newcomers, of the trader and colonist group, toward the natives whom
they found living under native law and custom? Some will call it a
credit, others a discredit, to the European regime that more than a
century and a half passed before any inroads were made upon native
independence and sovereignty. Members of the Dutch East India Company,
under Jan van Riebeek, landed on the Cape of Good Hope as early as
1652; the British occupied the Cape in 1806, but it was not until 1846
that any portion of the South African territory came under British
control. Before this time the Boer and Briton had been bent almost
solely upon the establishment of amicable and successful trade
relations with the natives. The Boer had come to the Cape to find an
ocean port for his vessels, and while it is true that wars were waged
between Boer and Bantu for the duration of a century, the natives were
only driven inland and no attempt was made to establish European
sovereignty over them.

In 1806, however, the Bri