Dutch Reacquire Control of Cape Colony

In 1802 was signed the Peace of Amiens, by which Great Britain agreed to restore the Cape to the Batavian Republic.

Continuing Great Britain Acquires Cape Colony,
our selection from A history of South Africa, from the first settlement by the Dutch, 1652, to the year 1903 by Henry A. Bryden published in 1903. The selection is presented in five easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in Great Britain Acquires Cape Colony.

Time: 1806
Place: Cape Town

From 1795 to 1803 the Cape was held by the British. During this period the colonists enjoyed an unwonted measure of prosperity. The Dutch restrictions and monopolies were largely removed; trade, so long fettered, at once revived and flourished; at Cape Town a garrison of five thousand men was maintained and British money flowed lavishly. In four years after the occupation property had been raised to double its former value; the paper currency, which had depreciated 40 per cent., was at par; plenty of silver, latterly a rarity indeed, reappeared; two millions of specie were dispatched from England and set into circulation. The farmer obtained three rix-dollars for his sheep where a little while before he had obtained but one; exports and imports expanded rapidly. By the year 1801 the revenue had increased threefold, and then amounted to ninety thousand pounds annually. It is worthy of note that in 1795, when the British captured the Cape, the total exports from the colony amounted to no more than fiffteen thousand pounds per annum. The total white population at this period was less than twenty-five thousand souls.

In August, 1796, Admiral Elphinstone, who lay with a force of twelve warships in Simon’s Bay, received news that a Dutch fleet had left Europe and was then probably near the Cape. The Admiral at once put to sea and came presently upon the Dutch force in Saldanha Bay. Admiral Lucas, the Dutch commander, had under his command nine vessels and about two thousand troops, destined for the recapture of the Cape. As the British stood into Saldanha Bay, the Dutch believed them to be French men and allies, and cries of pleasure went up. The Hollanders had no chance of escape; General Craig, with a strong force, awaited them on land, Elphinstone covered the mouth of the Bay. They thought of destroying their ships, but Craig sent word that in that case no quarter would be given. Lucas had nothing for it but to surrender at discretion, which he did on August 18th.

In 1797 Earl Macartney, a veteran public servant, whose name long remained famous for his great embassy to China, became governor at the Cape. In the country districts the Boers were still troublesome and unsettled; Van Jaarsveld, one of their leaders, was arrested for an illegal act, and his neighbors, having risen in insurrection, rescued him from his captors. The insurgents thereupon marched to Graaff Reinet and seized the town. Troops under General Vandeleur were at once dispatched to Algoa Bay, and hurried up to Graaff Reinet. The rebellious farmers retired to Bruintjes Hoogte, where they presently yielded. Some twenty of the leaders were condemned to death, others underwent the penalty of kneeling blindfold and having a sword waved over their bare heads; none, as a matter of fact, suffered the extreme penalty, but one was flogged and banished, while two died in prison.

At this time larger numbers of Hottentots in the eastern part of the country had been disarmed of weapons which they had seized from Boer houses during the troubles. They resented this deeply, and, joining themselves with the Amakosa Kaflirs, who were raiding the country toward Sunday River, ravaged a vast district as far as Lange Kloof and the Gamtoos River, plundering, murdering, and burning. The Dutch farmers suffered very severely; some thirty of them and their families were slain, and a whole province lay in ruins. The subsequent settlement, patched up by General Vandeleur, was unsatisfactory, and the Kafiirs and Hottentots escaped practically unpunished.

In 1802 was signed the Peace of Amiens, by which Great Britain agreed to restore the Cape to the Batavian Republic. Early in 1803 General Dundas, the acting governor at Cape Town, handed over the colony to the Dutch commissioner, and the British retired from the scene of their seven and a half years’ labors. General Janssens was at once formally installed governor of the colony, which was now divided into six districts instead of four, Tulbagh and Vitenhage being added to the Cape, Stellenbosch, Swellendam, and Graaff Reinet. Janssens was a capable officer and an administrator of excellent intentions. He visited the disturbed eastern districts, pacified the Kafltirs, restored the Hottentots from a debasing slavery to the position of freemen, and in other directions did what he could to further the interests of the colony. But he could not effect impossibilities. The Batavian Republic itself was in low water, the people of the Cape were starved, and the departure of the moneyed English was severely felt.

Janssens, during his short governorship, seems to have been overcome with despondency at the prospect before him. In reply to a memorial presented to him he made this doleful speech:

With regard to your inclination to strengthen the Cape with a new settlement, we must to our sorrow, but with all sincerity, declare that we cannot perceive any means whereby more people could find a subsistence here, whether by farming or otherwise. When we contemplate the number of children growing up we frequently ask ourselves, not only how they could find other means of subsistence, but also what it is to end in at last, and what they can lay hands on to procure bread.”

Janssens’s despairing cry may be said to represent the death knell of the Batavian power in South Africa. Far different were his sentiments from those of the British administrators who had already had experience of the Cape. Whether the Batavian Republic could have supported the colony much longer, or whether, as some statesmen advised, it would have been abandoned, it is now impossible to say. Other developments were close at hand. The Peace of Amiens lasted but three short months, and Europe was again in the grip of war. For two years Janssens was expecting an English descent. He had been preparing as best he might, strengthening his corps of Hottentots —- “Pandours,” they were sometimes called —- the number of six hundred, gathering in stores, and arming and drilling the burghers.

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