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The Life and Times of Sir George Grey, K.C.B.

Chapter XXXIII. — Prince Alfred's Visit to South Africa

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Chapter XXXIII.
Prince Alfred's Visit to South Africa.

I thank you for your voices; thank you;
Your most sweet voice."

Early in the year 1860 Sir George Grey returned to Cape Town. The news of his reappointment had reached the colony in September of the previous year. It had been received with a joy as unanimous and sincere as the sorrow caused by his recall. From the Government offices in Cape Town to the distant mission stations on the lakes and rivers, the tidings of the reappointment of their venerated ruler gave rise to unqualified delight. All classes and all races vied with each other in their expressions of gratitude to the Queen and of attachment to the Governor. So great had been the change worked during his administration, so prosperous had the South African communities become during the five years of his governorship, that the feeling of gratification at his return was both spontaneous and irrepressible.

A great crowd assembled to welcome the Governor upon his arrival. Music, flags, and cheers marked his return to the Cape. The fears and sense of insecurity which had overshadowed the whole land passed away, while hope and confidence were reestablished.

The event itself will never be forgotten; and for many years yet to come parents will tell their children the story of Sir George Grey's wise administration, of his sudden recall, and of the enthusiasm evoked by his reappearance.

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It would be impossible to give even an abstract of the numerous letters which Sir George Grey received from all parts of South Africa rejoicing in his return. A translation of one, however, may be given as expressing the feeling shown in all. The writer of that we have chosen for this purpose was a chief of great importance, who ruled over the country to the south-east of the Orange Free State:

My Lord,—

Our sorrow and regret is now turned into sincere joy and gratitude by the cheering news of Your Excellency's return to the shores of South Africa as the Kepresentative of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain. And we beg to congratulate Your Excellency and Lady Grey upon your safe arrival into this country, amidst a people that love you, and pray that your exalted wisdom and Christian firmness may long be spared to them.

We also desire to tender our warmest thanks to Her Majesty Queen Victoria for being an eye to the blind in sending a God-fearing man as Governor and High Commissioner to this benighted land, whose philanthropic heart has done so much already for the temporal and spiritual improvement of the aborigines both here and in other countries, and whoso name guarantees further blessings for the future.—I remain Your Excellency's most obedient servant, in the name of my people,

Chief Moroka.

The demonstrations of joy at Sir George Grey's return as Governor, were hardly at an end when the people of Gape Town began to look forward eagerly to another occasion of rejoicing. This was the promised visit of Prince Alfred. Never had the Queen's subjects in South Africa seen any of the Royal Family in that portion of her dominions. Sir George knew that the presence of the Sailor Prince in their midst would not only give great pleasure to the colonists, but would also greatly strengthen their loyalty by adding warm personal attachment to their lawful obedience.

When tidings were received that H.M.S. Euryalus, with the royal midshipman on board, bad sailed for Cape Colony, the greatest excitement prevailed. It was not known what port she was bound for, but the residents of Cape Town expected to see the English man-of-war with the Royal standard floating proudly from her masthead, gliding through the blue waters of Table Bay. The delight of first sighting her was, however, not for them, but for the inhabitants of Simon's Town at the other side of the Cape of page 257Good Hope. Directly the news of her arrival at Simon's Town was made known, a pleasant excitement spread abroad—shops and places of business were deserted—triumphal arches spanned the road by which the young Prince must come to Government House at Cape Town; flags waved from every spire and staff streamed from windows and balconies, or floated out in the breeze in long lines of brilliant colour overhead. Thousands of expectant faces in Cape Town turned towards the road from Simon's Bay. Thousands of throats grew hoarse with cheering as the open carriage with its grey horses drew near, and the round, boyish face of their royal visitor beamed with gratification at their enthusiastic welcome.

At the entrance to Cape Town Sir George Grey was waiting on horseback to receive his distinguished guest. There Prince Alfred mounted also, and rode the rest of the way by the Governor's side. Such a mingling of races, colours, creeds, languages and dress is not often seen as the streets of Cape Town contained that clay. Still less frequently does such a cosmopolitan gathering display such unanimous feeling. Boers. English, Germans, Fingoes, Zulus, and Kafirs all united in welcoming their Queen's son, and in expressing their love for their Governor. Suddenly a Kafir stepped out of the crowd and caught hold of the reins of the Prince's horse. The movement was momentary, and Sir George at once spoke to him and he retired, merely saying, "I wished to do honour to the Queen that sent us out our good Sir George Grey."

That night the capital was magnificently illuminated. Several days were pleasantly spent at Government House. Balls, dinner parties, receptions, drives and excursions to different points of interest, occupied the time, and made Prince Alfred acquainted with the neighbourhood and its residents. One of the most interesting of these excursions was a visit to the Kafir school at Zonnebloem, founded by the Governor. But Sir George was desirous that the Royal lad should see more of South African life than was shown in the festivities at Cape Town. He therefore planned an excursion through Cape Colony, Kaffraria, the Orange River Free State, and Natal.

In accordance with this programme, the party embarked in the Euryalus at Simon's Town and sailed for Port Elizabeth, from which town they were to proceed overland to the frontier. When Prince page 258Alfred stepped into the boat which was to convey them to the man-of-war, Sir George Grey was amused and touched by the rapid transition from a royal prince to a simple midshipman. Respectfully saluting, Prince Alfred stood by and offered assistance while Sir George Grey stepped in, plainly indicating that their relative positions were changed, and that at sea His Excellency the Governor must take precedence of the "middy."

Arriving at Port Elizabeth on the 6th of August, the Prince was able to celebrate his birthday there amidst rejoicings which rivalled those of Cape Town. The citizens were hardly restrained, by the Governor's urgent desire, from talking the six greys out of the carriage in which Prince Alfred and he rode and drawing it themselves. Very reluctantly they relinquished their purpose. Visits were paid to the Grey Institute (where the scholars received a holiday on the recommendation of the founder and patron of their establishment), and several other public buildings. In the evening a large ball was given in honour of the visitors.

A hunt across the Amsterdam flats commenced the ride from Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown. For three hours the vice-regal party and royal guest coursed over the plains at a glorious rate. The royal middy was foremost in the chase and thoroughly enjoyed the rousing gallop.

Crossing the rivers on pontoon bridges, stopping for meals and sleeping at comfortable inns, spending the hours of daylight in the saddle amidst the romantic scenery of the mountain passes or the park-like beauty of the undulating plains—the journey to Grahamstown would have been enjoyable enough to the ordinary tourist. But a special delight was afforded Prince Alfred by the manifestations of welcome and joy at his coming. The enthusiasm of the people was shown not only by the decorations on the road, but by their assembling from far distant parts of the country to greet the party.

The entrance to Grahamstown was made under triumphal arches and waving flags, amid the thunders of artillery, the stirring strains of military music, and the deafening cheers of the populace. Above the kaleidoscopic changing of the brilliant but harmonious colour in the street, the motto on one triumphal arch was a paradox:

"With all the bright colours this world can display. The frontier avers there is nothing like Grey."

page 259King Williamstown was reached six days later. There the young Prince saw the magnificent memorial which English troops had erected in the shape of the Grey Hospital.

From this point the expedition turned away from the coast and proceeded nearly due north. For ten days they rode on towards Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State. Such a journey was an entirely new experience to Prince Alfred. As the cavalcade passed along the grassy and woodless plateaux of Kaffraria, or forded the rapid mountain torrents which rushed down from the western heights and cut their way through deep, wooded ravines to the sea, everything was novel and pleasing to him.

As he and Sir George Grey dismounted from their horses, stiff and tired, and watched the gorgeous colours of the South African sunset lighting up the busy scene of camping, the clumsy Cape waggons drawn up and out-spanned for the night, and the usual evening preparations being made; or later, after a hearty meal of plain fare had been eaten with more relish than any banquet ever spread in palaces, with the camp fire brightly burning, and the more steadfast and brilliant shining of the southern constellations overhead, the English boy felt all the fascination of the scene. Even the discomforts of the excursion had a charm of their own. Fatigue, hunger, rough lodging, and the absence of many small every-day luxuries and indulgences are (one or all) attendant upon most of the favourite sports and pastimes of his race, and a certain pleasure in occasionally "roughing it" is felt by the Anglo-Saxon.

To Sir George Grey, who had known real deprivation, and looked starvation steadily in the face, whose immense powers of endurance had been taxed to their utmost limit, and whose determination alone had conquered physical weakness and saved the lives of his party in the Australian exploration twenty years before, the present was merely a picnic. Indeed, it made very little difference in his usual habits, which were simple in the extreme. He was always abstemious, and seldom indulged in anything beyond the barest necessaries of life. The scenes through which they passed had not the novelty for him that they possessed for Prince Alfred, but he heartily enjoyed his visitor's youthful enthusiasm and delight.

While hunting one day on the borders of the Transvaal, the young Prince and the Governor became separated from the rest of the page 260party. They had breakfasted about four o'clock, and as the hours went by the idea of lunch became more and more pleasant, though less hopeful. The sight of a Boer's hut about two o'clock in the afternoon was gladly welcomed, especially by the younger of the two riders, whose healthy appetite had been sharpened by the fresh air and long abstinence.

They were hospitably entertained by the occupant of the little dwelling, an old woman, who cooked some exceedingly greasy pancakes for them. The Prince's appetite was not at all spoiled by the fact that the appointments of the table were rather more primitive than at Buckingham Palace. In the absence of spoons and forks, he rolled up his pancake and ate it from his fingers with intense relish, telling Sir George it was "the most delicious pancake" he had ever tasted. His companion, less hungry, and accustomed to much longer fasting, was quietly amused at such high appreciation of the greasy compound.

When, on leaving, the Governor told their kind hostess who her guest was, the old woman was almost overcome with the thought that she had been entertaining "the son of the Queen." It is easy to believe that there are certain objects regarded as sacred relics in that remote hut in the Transvaal, and jealously guarded to this day.

The Governor and his party crossed the Drakensberg Mountains through wide, shrubby kloofs. High above them towered lofty inaccessible peaks, their rugged outlines rendered wilder looking by the stiff, pointed foliage of countless euphorbias and aloes, whose bristles bid defiance alike to fire and drought. They passed through numerous settlements, native villages, mission stations, and everywhere the same enthusiastic welcome met them.

As they penetrated more deeply into the country, Prince Alfred was regarded with much curiosity by the natives. "The Queen" had hardly hitherto been a real personage to them, but rather a powerful deity, and they were much surprised to see her son real flesh and blood. But with Sir George Grey it was different. He was their "father," their friend. They had heard that he was taken away from them and was never coming back—and then, to their joy, he had returned. Now, for the first time since that return, he had come amongst them; and the greatest cause they had to thank the page 261Gracious Queen was, that she had sent them back their good Governor.

At every town or settlement they entered, addresses were presented to the Prince and the Governor, all testifying to the loyalty and hearty affection of the people for their distant Queen, and their satisfaction with the Government. One from the Kafirs of St. Mark's Mission Station contained the following passage:—

"We beg leave to express our great pleasure on seeing the son of Queen Victoria. We wish to express to him our feelings of love towards our Queen for having sent so wise a man as Sir George Grey to rule over this country. We have seen the good things which he has done, and we ourselves were saved from death by him after we had blindly followed the words of the false prophet, Umhlakaza, in killing our cattle and destroying our corn. We ourselves are living under the Christian law, and many of us have joined heartily in the Christian faith. Our children are taught in the Mission schools the law of Christ, and through the kindness of Sir George Grey our sons are learning useful trades, whereby they will shortly be able to earn a good living."

At the conclusion of the address Sir George Grey shook hands with many of the natives, and asked for some writing that had been done in the schools to be given to the Prince, and when this was complied with, Prince Alfred declared, to the great gratification of the scholars, that he would take the writing to England and show it to the Queen. The Tambookie tribes, anxious to see Prince Alfred, assembled at a certain point on the road. Not knowing the exact date at which he might be expected, they were there two days before he came. Then they heard that he had taken a shorter way. Fortunately, Prince Alfred had not gone very far when he heard what disappointment his non-appearance would cause, and turned back. The natives showed great delight and enthusiasm, singing their best war-songs and chants of welcome, the latter consisting chiefly of the words: "We have seen the child of heaven. We have seen the son of our Queen." Some of the chiefs were introduced to the young Prince, and one presented him with an assegai as a token of respect.

"His Excellency Sir George Grey conversed freely with the chiefs, exhorted them to continue firm in their loyalty to Her page 262Majesty, and took particular pains to impress upon them the great interest which our beloved Queen took in their welfare, as well as in that of all her other South African subjects, a greater proof of which she could not have given than that of thus sending her son, whom she so clearly loved, to this distant country as her representative. The chiefs were loud in their expressions of gratitude and promises of loyalty, and they also expressed in glowing language the satisfaction they felt at the return of Sir George Grey again to be their Governor, calling him their father and their best friend, and promising implicit obedience to all his commands."*

The inhabitants of Queenstown had drawn up addresses of welcome and congratulation to Sir George Grey on again resuming the government of the colony, which they wished to present publicly. The Governor, however, declined to take any prominent position in receiving them, preferring that the young Prince should always occupy the most important place.

At Lesseytown the natives assembled and sang songs of welcome. "Never did black faces beam with greater delight than did those of these people as they looked for the first time on a Prince of the Royal House, and as they greeted once more their venerated and much-loved Governor. On Sir George Grey they seem to look as upon a father."

They presented an address, from which the following quotation is made:

"We pray thee to convey our thanks to our Queen for the great good-luck of seeing thee, and also for all the great and good things she has done for us by the hands of our beloved Governor, Sir George Grey."

The institution to which these people belonged owed its origin to Sir George Grey and the interest "which he took in the advancement of the natives. A Queenstown paper thus speaks of the impressions generally made by the visitors;

"We had read and heard much of the affability, courtesy, condescension, sense, and friendly bearing of Prince Alfred, and of the more than paternal care with which Sir George Grey watches over him, and the manner in which the excellent qualities of the

* Extract from newspaper account of proceedings.—Free Press, Queenstown.

Queenstown paper.

page 263two combined at once strike home to the heart and take hold upon a people's affections. But the half bad not been told us. Their visit was brief, but it has left many pleasant reminiscences; and often and fervently shall we wish and pray for long life and happiness to our Royal Prince Alfred, and long life and happiness to our noble Governor, Sir George Grey."

On August 19th they met the great chief Moshesh at Aliwal. He had left his own place and, at a great age, undertaken a long and trying journey in order to shake hands with them.

Next day they arrived at Smithfield, which presented the same festive appearance as all the other towns they had passed through. Crossing into the Free States they reached Bloemfontein, the capital, on August 23rd. The keynote to the feeling of the inhabitants was supplied by the motto of a triumphal arch, "Loyal, tho' discarded." Adam Kok here awaited the Prince and the Governor.

Some of the most enthusiastic sportsmen in the Orange Free State were determined that Prince Alfred should take part in a more magnificent hunt than any Royal Prince had ever seen. Accordingly for some days before his arrival about a thousand Barolongs, under their chief, Moroka, were busily occupied in beating up the game from the adjacent country close to Bloemfontein. On the morning of the 24th the hunt commenced. The Barolongs divided into two parties and rode off right and left, dropping a man every hundred yards or so. After forming a continuous straight line for some miles, both parties turned inwards till they met, thus completing the circle. The quantity of game shut in by the hunters could not have been less than twenty-five thousand head.

A member of the Royal party, who took an active part in the hunt, gives the following account:

"The several kinds of game — ostriches, Burchell's zebras, wildebeestes, bonteboks, springboks—kept generally each kind in separate herds or droves, crossing and re-crossing one another in the greatest confusion and terror, as they careered along the line seeking for a point through which they might break. A drove of wildebeestes, fierce with terror, would make a wild rush at some apparently weak point in the living fence, and—amidst clouds of page 264dust, the falling of the dying ones, the tumbling of those living over those who were slain, the roar caused by the trampling of so many galloping feet over the ground, the bellowing of the wounded wildebeestes, the shouts and cries of the Barolongs, the continual popping of the guns and rifles—would resolutely break through the line, and madly career off into the apparently boundless plain. At some points would be seen riders falling horse and all; at others, horses whose riders were thrown, galloping here and there with the game."

Beside the larger game mentioned a great number of Cape jerboas, of meerkats, cobras, and oribis (a small and graceful species of antelope), were driven in with the surging mass, while a vast crowd of vultures hovered in the air or swooped upon the dead bodies.

The Royal party proceeded as far north as Winburg, and then turned eastward, crossing the Drakensberg Mountains, entering Natal upon the 31st. The inhabitants of Pietermaribzburg were nowise behind those of the other towns visited in their demonstrations of loyalty and pleasure at seeing Prince Alfred. A local paper, alluding to the most important members of the young Prince's party, first speaks of Sir George Grey as "the most intelligent of statesmen, the best and most popular of Governors, the political benefactor of Natal, the friend and defender of the people. God bless him! say we and many another grateful heart."

They left Pietermaritzburg for D'Urban on the 5th of September, and found the Euryalus waiting for them at the latter place. Embarking, they returned to Cape Town, landing once more in Simon's Town on the 14th of September.

The overland tour that had been taken amounted to fully twelve hundred miles. This distance was covered in a month. The average rate of forty miles a day on horseback or in the waggons, over such rough roads and broken country, was very fair.

"It was certainly a progress such as no Royal Prince had ever 'done' before—among wild beasts and wild men, over mountain ranges and desert tracts, and fertile pastures; from the homes of European civilization to the huts of barbarism, from the centre of the hostile hordes who for so many long years waged war upon our advancing colonisation, to the rapidly progressing prosperity of page 265Natal, then (though not now) Britain's youngest colonial settlement in Africa. And wherever he appeared, the welcome that greeted him was alike cordial and enthusiastic. The English settler and the Dutch boer were equally sincere in their fervent loyalty; and the natives whether aboriginal, Hottentot. Fingo, Kafir, Basuto, or Zulu, were more loudly demonstrative still. But of all the characteristic features that marked this journey, perhaps the most striking and suggestive, and certainly not the least gratifying, was the extent to which the self-reliant spirit of the European inhabitants of South Africa displayed itself, in the organisation of volunteer corps and burgher forces for mutual defence, against all encroachments of an enemy."*

Sandilli, the paramount chief of the Tambookies, with his councillors, accepted an invitation to accompany the Prince's party from Natal to Cape Town in the Emyalus. The voyage was a rough one, and the Kafirs, whose dread of the ocean is unconquerable, suffered horribly. A great impression "was made on their minds by the sight of Prince Alfred, the loved, admired, and venerated royal visitor, fresh from the triumphs and adulation of his tour through South Africa, resuming his ordinary middy's duties. They saw the boy whose coming had caused tens of thousands of hearts to beat more quickly, and had aroused unbounded enthusiasm and delight in four great States and many different races, now rising with the dawn to assist in washing down the decks. As he splashed about barefooted, all distinctions of rank merged, not in equality, but in the discipline and priority of the naval service, they wondered.

The following translation of an address, which they presented to Captain Tarloton before leaving the Euryalus, amply expresses their feelings: —

Sandilli mid his councillors give thanks. By the invitation of the great Chief, the son of the Queen of the English people, are we this day on board this mighty vessel.

The invitation was accepted with fear. With dread we came on board, and in trouble have we witnessed the dangers of the great waters, but through your skill have we passed through this tribulation.

We have seen what our ancestors heard not of. Now have we grown old and learned wisdom. The might of England has been fully illustrated to

* "The Progress of Prince Alfred through South Africa."—8. S. Solomon and Co., Cape Town, 1861.

page 266us, and now we behold our madness in taking up arms to resist the authority of our mighty and gracious Sovereign. Up to this time have we not ceased to be amazed at the wonderful things we have witnessed, and which are beyond our comprehension. But one thing we understand, the reason of England's greatness, when the son of her great Queen becomes subject to a subject that lie may learn wisdom; when the sons of England's chiefs and nobles leave the homes and wealth of their fathers, and with their young Prince endure hardships and sufferings in order that they may be wise, and become a defence to their country. When we behold these things, we see why the English are a great and mighty nation.

What we have now learnt shall be transmitted to our wondering countrymen, and handed down to our children, who will be wiser than their fathers, and your mighty Queen shall be their Sovereign and ours in all time coming.