#cape colony

[alisters-mapping-blog]

South Africa in July 1885

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"At the end of 1809, a group of prisoners escaped from Robben Island probably using a whale boat to reach the mainland. The escapees included both Stuurman brothers and their two companions. After splitting up to help avoid detection, Bootsman Stuurman was recaptured. However, David Stuurman, Michiel and Wildschut, managed to rejoin the Xhosa. A long stand-off ensued, during which time Governor Cuyler tried to entice Stuurman to surrender but to no avail. Stuurman lived among the Xhosa throughout the fourth and fifth frontier wars and was not recaptured until near the end of 1819 after being at large for a decade.

Stuurman was returned to Robben Island at the end of December 1819. Following another escape in August 1820, Stuurman was recaptured and sentenced to be transported for life to New South Wales. After being forced to watch as some of his surviving fellow escapees (some died during the attempt) were flogged, branded or hanged, Stuurman was returned temporarily to Robben Island until room could be found on a convict transport to convey him to the Australian penal colonies. Under the Dutch, it had been possible for Cape Colony officials to banish miscreants. But under the English, the option of transporting convicts to the Australian penal colonies became a possibility. As early as 1815, Governor Somerset at the Cape requested permission from London to have people transported from the Colony to New South Wales. In response, the Admiralty instructed convict transports to stop at the Cape.7Cape Colony courts found transportation a particularly attractive option in dealing with its various non-European populations. Sending Khoisan, slaves and others across the ocean with little hope of ever returning home provided a much more exemplary punishment than simply shipping them to Robben Island, in sight of Table Bay. Even a sentence to seven years’ transportation to the Australian penal colonies effectively became a life sentence. The few Australian Aboriginal convicts who survived incarceration were repatriated when their sentence expired, but Khoisan were simply left to their own devices.

Overcrowding and illness on convict transports meant that it could be a long wait between sentencing and the sentence of transportation actually being carried into effect. Stuurman remained at the Cape following his 2 September 1820 trial through to February 1823 when the Brampton arrived at Table Bay. The transport had sufficient room to take on board convicts from the Cape.

Another of the fourteen convicts loaded onto the Brampton with Stuurman was also described as a ‘Hottentot’, Jantje Piet, convicted for murder. Piet was to have been executed on 29 April 1820, but the Governor of Port Elizabeth, Sir Rufane Donkin, ‘did not think it decorous’ to carry the sentence into effect because this was the day on which the accession to the throne of King George IV was proclaimed at the Cape of Good Hope. Instead, Donkin granted the man a respite and wrote to Earl Bathurst, Secretary for War and the Colonies, for consent to have Piet’s sentence commuted to transportation to New South Wales.

On 28 July 1822, the Brampton sailed from London under the command of Master Sam Moore, a violent and abusive man, and with Surgeon Superintendent Morgan Price on board. Its cargo was to comprise Irish men under sentences ranging from seven years to life, as well as several free settlers. Most were from the labouring classes, with occupations ranging from errand boy, shearer and ploughman to brogue maker, music dancing master and linen weaver. Some were known to be rebels. Many had already spent a considerable time in gaol prior to departing from the Cove of Cork on 8 November 1822. The convicts were guarded by a detachment of the Third Regiment (Buffs) during the voyage."

- Kristyn Harman, Aboriginal Convicts: Australian, Khoisan and Māori Exiles. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2012. p. 156-157.

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #InternationalChameleonDay :

Chameleons by Robert Jacob Gordon (Dutch, 1743-1795), from The Gordon African Collection, 4 albums of natural history illustrations made during his Cape Colony (South Africa) expeditions (1777-86). Now in the Rijksmuseum collection.

1. Chamaeleo namaquensis (Namaqua Chameleon) RP-T-1914-17-99

2. Bradypodion pumilum (Cape Dwarf Chameleon) RP-T-1914-17-101

3. Bradypodion pumilum in three poses (Cape Dwarf Chameleon) RP-T-1914-17-100

drawings on paper, H 660mm × W 480mm ea.

[docileeffects]

[cuppajj]

Sketches of Kabula, head of the Titan's Guard. She is astute, imposing, and fiercely loyal to her titan and cityspeaker, which she expects the same of for all her troops. Her strength alone makes her a one mech force, striking apprehension into the ill-willed. Her jobs consist of patrolling the capital, communicating with district leaders, and answering calls for assistance. On some occasions, she ventures into the Darklands, combating the colony's forsaken kind on a quest to bring all of them to justice. All of these merits make her deserving of the colony's greatest warrior.

If she is doing none of these duties, then she is at the cityspeaker's side as her personal bodyguard. After the death of the original, she became part of the security measure to make sure such a horrific loss would never happen again. Though she respects and admires the captain, Tympani wishes Kabula didn't treat her with extreme alertness.

[sakuhina]

Cape Verde's independence ceremony on July 1975.

[erebusvincent]

A fact about me is that I love penguins. I’m busy depleating Cape Town of its penguin merch at this moment.

Check out more penguins:

[rabbitcruiser]

Captain James Cook began his third voyage on July 12, 1776.

[briansolomonauthor]

Tracing Vestiges of the Old Colony Railroad on Cape Cod.

On our November visit to Cape Cod this year, Kris and I spent a day photographing beaches and tracing the route of the Old Colony Railroad line that once ran all the way to the pier at Provincetown, Massachusetts. The railroad was abandoned decades ago and most of the infrastructure was scrapped or recycled. However, in places it’s possible to see evidence of the old right-of-way, or at least…

[anam-cara]

Boulders Beach, South Africa

2023

[konoa-t]

Oron and Yumi :DD

[streetsofsalem]

Some Great Early Gloucester Houses

I feel like I should know more about Gloucester, the port city about a half hour to the north of Salem. I have quite a few Salem friends who have summer homes in Gloucester, or have moved to Gloucester, or just go to Gloucester often: it’s like an escape hatch of sorts. 1623 marks Gloucester’s 400th Anniversary, and I have been super impressed with the city’s commemoration efforts: they are…

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #NationalAardvarkWeek:

Aardvarks by Robert Jacob Gordon (Dutch, 1743-1795), from The Gordon African Collection, 4 albums of natural history illustrations made during 4 expeditions to the Dutch Cape Colony (South Africa) from 1777-86. Now in the Rijksmuseum collection.

[docileeffects]

[buffalolozengeloscheese]

Nantucket island is so fucking small that you can't run.

sorry but this is so fucking funny. massachusetts can have some rights. as a treat

[erebusvincent]

I love these fat little guys so much.