Trials of Slavery

Statement given on the requisition of the landdrost, Sieur Pieter Lourensz, by Januarij van Rio de la Goa,¹ 20 years old at a guess, bondsman of the burgher Francois Retief, being of the following contents, namely:

That on Wednesday evening, the 14^th of this month, the testifier was with his fellow slaves Claas and Augustus in the kitchen of the residence on the farm of their owner, situated in the region of the Wagenmakersvallei, when their master cried from the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms.: “Call to the dogs there”, whereupon the aforementioned Claas called out to the back [yard]: “Tsa! tsa!”,² upon which his mistress asked: “Who is calling tsa! tsa! there?”, to which the slave Augustus answered that it had been the slave Claas calling out, to which his mistress, replied again: “Can that pretty monkey not call out any better?”

That early in the morning of the following day, the aforementioned slave Augustus told the said slave Claas in the pease plot that his mistress had said that he, Claas, was a pretty monkey, and if he could not have called out differently, whereupon the said Claas replied: “Even if I am a pretty monkey, if I could get her, I would still sleep with her”.

That at 8 o’clock in the morning, after the testifier had eaten in the kitchen with his two aforementioned fellow slaves, the slave Augustus, while leaving, said to a female slave of his master, named Aurora: “You must slaughter that lamb which was killed by the wolf in the corral”,³ to which the slave Claas answered: “What does the meijdmeijdLiterally ‘girl.’ This word developed among the same lines as jongen, the word coming to mean ‘female slave.’ However, its trajectory diverged from that of jongen in that it eventually was used more widely to refer to indigenous women, so that meid still survives in modern Afrikaans as a pejorative term for women of colour. As with jongen, the word was no longer available to refer to European girls, but instead of the difference between girl and daughter disappearing, the diminutive form, meijsje (Afrikaans, meisie), came to be used for ‘girl.’ know about slaughtering, let the baasbaasIn seventeenth-century Dutch this was used both in the sense of ‘head’ (e.g. ‘head carpenter’) and ‘master’. In South Africa the second meaning developed further, and thus baas came to be a synonym for meester (‘master’). It was the form that slaves (and Khoikhoi) would use to address male Europeans. and not you give orders to the meijdmeijdLiterally ‘girl.’ This word developed among the same lines as jongen, the word coming to mean ‘female slave.’ However, its trajectory diverged from that of jongen in that it eventually was used more widely to refer to indigenous women, so that meid still survives in modern Afrikaans as a pejorative term for women of colour. As with jongen, the word was no longer available to refer to European girls, but instead of the difference between girl and daughter disappearing, the diminutive form, meijsje (Afrikaans, meisie), came to be used for ‘girl.’”, to which Augustus replied: “She may not be able to slaughter that lamb, but she is well capable of knavish tricks”. The three of them again went out to the pease plot in order to pick the same, when the slave Augustus was ordered by his master to go and look if his horse still had fodder, which is when the slave Claas said to the testifier, when they got close to the pease plot: “I will not remain silent as long as I am not sucking the blood of Augustus”,⁴ which was heard by the slave Augustus, who had come close to them, and who said to the aforementioned slave Claas: “I would like to see what sort of guy could suck my blood”. They then continued with their work while, shortly thereafter, their master rode from there to Stellenbosch. Shortly after their owner had ridden away, the slave Augustus took up a thick piece of wood which was close by the pease plot, broke it into two pieces and threw it down in front of him. The testifier then asked: “What do you want to do with that wood”, to which Augustus answered: “I want to garden”, yet as the testifier saw Augustus, while continuing to pick peas, repeatedly picking up these pieces of wood and throwing them down in front of him, he again asked him what he wanted to do with them, to which the same answered: “You do not know, jongenjongenLiterally ‘boy.’ In Dutch it was common to use this word also to refer to male servants, irrespective of age. At the Cape, however, this usage was extended to slaves and then became exclusive, so that jongen (also in the deflected form jong) came to mean ‘male slave’, such that Afrikaans lost the use of the word to mean ‘boy’ and instead uses seun (from Dutch zoon) for both ‘boy’ and ‘son.’ In this primary meaning, the word has become obsolete in modern Afrikaans, except for the archaic terms tuinjong (‘garden boy’) and plaasjong (‘farm boy’), in the sense of male workers of colour., what I will do with this wood”, saying about an hour after this to the slave Claas: “What sort of guy said that he would suck my blood? – let him come now”, which is when the slave Claas asked: “Do you want it?”, to which Augustus answered: “You have said that you want to suck my blood, come on then”, whereupon the slave Claas grabbed the aforementioned Augustus and wanted to bite the same on his cheek, whereupon Augustus, while pushing the slave Claas away, threw a clod of earth at his head, taking at the same time one of the two sticks in his hand, giving Claas a blow with it on the head and another on the back, who then grabbed the said Augustus and started struggling with him until Augustus broke free and went to the house; when the slave Claas likewise went to the house, while being followed there by the testifier. At this time his mistress was sitting at the table eating with the free black named Sinopaaij.

That when the said slave Claas came to a halt in the kitchen, the slave Augustus told him: “You must not keep quiet now, you must tell that we were fighting”, whereupon his mistress, coming into the kitchen, said: “What are you doing here in the house, get away from here, you are forever fighting over the old bitch. Because of you I have to leave my own house; if I had known this, that she is such a bitch, I would not have bought her”. The slave Augustus uninterruptedly inveighed against the slave Claas, saying: “He wants to sleep with nonjenonjeThis word entered Dutch from Malay nyonya (which in turn derived from Portuguese dona, ‘lady’) and was in use at the Cape since its foundation. It was used both by settlers to refer to women in general, and by slaves and Khoikhoi as a form of address for female Europeans. It survived in modern Afrikaans in the form of nooi or nôi, ‘young (unmarried) woman’, although it is now somewhat archaic.”, whereupon his mistress asked the slave Augustus what he said, to which the same answered: “Claas said that he wants to sleep with nonjenonjeThis word entered Dutch from Malay nyonya (which in turn derived from Portuguese dona, ‘lady’) and was in use at the Cape since its foundation. It was used both by settlers to refer to women in general, and by slaves and Khoikhoi as a form of address for female Europeans. It survived in modern Afrikaans in the form of nooi or nôi, ‘young (unmarried) woman’, although it is now somewhat archaic.”, whereupon his mistress turned around, went into the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. and sat on a chair, weeping. The slave Claas then grabbed the aforementioned Augustus, who had an axe in his hand, pulling the same outside the kitchen, where they both started to fight again. His mistress then came to stand inside the kitchen door and said to the slave Claas: “You just go on to your work, Augustus will follow later”, the same then did go again with him, the testifier, to the fields, when shortly thereafter they both saw that their mistress was on the road with the aforenamed Sinopaaij to Drie Fonteijnen, which is when the slave Claas said to the testifier: “Come, you must run away with me, otherwise it would not end well for you”, to which the testifier, answered: “No, I don’t want to run away”. The slave Claas then again betook himself to the house in order to search for the said slave Augustus, while saying: “Now that I have said that, that I want to sleep with the nonjenonjeThis word entered Dutch from Malay nyonya (which in turn derived from Portuguese dona, ‘lady’) and was in use at the Cape since its foundation. It was used both by settlers to refer to women in general, and by slaves and Khoikhoi as a form of address for female Europeans. It survived in modern Afrikaans in the form of nooi or nôi, ‘young (unmarried) woman’, although it is now somewhat archaic., I am as good as dead, I will still get to stab that jongenjongenLiterally ‘boy.’ In Dutch it was common to use this word also to refer to male servants, irrespective of age. At the Cape, however, this usage was extended to slaves and then became exclusive, so that jongen (also in the deflected form jong) came to mean ‘male slave’, such that Afrikaans lost the use of the word to mean ‘boy’ and instead uses seun (from Dutch zoon) for both ‘boy’ and ‘son.’ In this primary meaning, the word has become obsolete in modern Afrikaans, except for the archaic terms tuinjong (‘garden boy’) and plaasjong (‘farm boy’), in the sense of male workers of colour.”. The testifier then ran to his mistress on the road to whom he reported the same, who then sent him to the burgher Jan van de Vijver, who was on the road not far from there, to request him to take the slave Claas prisoner and to take him to Stellenbosch; who then also captured the aforementioned slave Claas in a ditch close by his master’s residence, and took him from there to Stellenbosch.

Finally the testifier also declares that the slaves Claas and Augustus have always had quarrels and rows over the aforementioned meijdmeijdLiterally ‘girl.’ This word developed among the same lines as jongen, the word coming to mean ‘female slave.’ However, its trajectory diverged from that of jongen in that it eventually was used more widely to refer to indigenous women, so that meid still survives in modern Afrikaans as a pejorative term for women of colour. As with jongen, the word was no longer available to refer to European girls, but instead of the difference between girl and daughter disappearing, the diminutive form, meijsje (Afrikaans, meisie), came to be used for ‘girl.’ Aurora.

There being nothing further to declare, the testifier asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of his statement as in the text, being willing to subsequently confirm the above, at any time, whenever this may be required.

Thus related at Stellenbosch on 29 October 1744 in the presence of the messenger of the court Jan van Ellewe and the soldier Arend Wilkens, requested hereto as witnesses.

This mark X was set down by the slave Januarij van Rio de la Goa with his own hand.

As witnesses, [signed] J. van Ellewe, Arend Wilckens [sic].

With my cognisance, [signed] A. Schephausen, secretary.

1/STB 3/9 Criminele Verklaringen, 1740-1746, unpaginated.

Statement given, on the requisition of the landdrost, Sieur Pieter Lourensz, by Anna Marais, wife of the burgher Francois Retief, being of the following contents, namely:

That on the afternoon of Thursday the 14^th of this month, the testifier was sitting and eating with the free black Sinopaaij in the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. of the house on her farm situated in the Wagenmakersvallei region, while her husband had ridden to Stellenbosch about an hour beforehand. When she heard shouting outside the house, she got up from the table and saw over the lower door that her bondsmen, named Claas and Augustus, were fighting with each other around the pease plot, and that the slave Augustus broke free and came running towards the house, and was being followed by the slave Claas. Both of them came into the kitchen shortly thereafter, when the testifier saw that both these slaves were bloody and that the slave Augustus had taken an axe into his hand and that the aforesaid Claas had a stick with him: whereupon she went to the kitchen door and said to them: “What are you doing here in the house, get away from here, you are forever fighting over that old bitch, I have to leave my own house because of you; if I had known this, that she is such a bitch, I would not have bought her”, while the slaves Augustus and Claas were in the meantime inveighing against one another, with the said Augustus saying to her: “Does nonjenonjeThis word entered Dutch from Malay nyonya (which in turn derived from Portuguese dona, ‘lady’) and was in use at the Cape since its foundation. It was used both by settlers to refer to women in general, and by slaves and Khoikhoi as a form of address for female Europeans. It survived in modern Afrikaans in the form of nooi or nôi, ‘young (unmarried) woman’, although it is now somewhat archaic. know what Claas has said, he said even though he might be black, if he could get nonjenonjeThis word entered Dutch from Malay nyonya (which in turn derived from Portuguese dona, ‘lady’) and was in use at the Cape since its foundation. It was used both by settlers to refer to women in general, and by slaves and Khoikhoi as a form of address for female Europeans. It survived in modern Afrikaans in the form of nooi or nôi, ‘young (unmarried) woman’, although it is now somewhat archaic., he would nonetheless sleep with nonjenonjeThis word entered Dutch from Malay nyonya (which in turn derived from Portuguese dona, ‘lady’) and was in use at the Cape since its foundation. It was used both by settlers to refer to women in general, and by slaves and Khoikhoi as a form of address for female Europeans. It survived in modern Afrikaans in the form of nooi or nôi, ‘young (unmarried) woman’, although it is now somewhat archaic.”, upon which she went to sit on a chair in the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms.. Shortly hereafter, the slave Claas pulled Augustus outside the kitchen, after which the testifier ordered Claas to go to his work in the fields, while adding that the slave Augustus would follow later. The slave Claas then went off to the fields again, together with a slave of hers, named Januarij, while she, after she had sent the slave Augustus away, then went with the free black Sinopaaij from her house to her uncle, the burgher Steven du Toit, at Drie Fonteijnen, to request him to come over.

That when the testifier was on the road not far from her house, there came to her her bondsman Januarij van Rio de la Goa, who reported that the slave Claas had gone to the house to look for Augustus, at which time she saw a person riding on horseback not far from her, to whom she sent the aforementioned slave Januarij to request the same if he would be so good as to ride to her house and to capture the said slave Claas. Around Drie Fonteijnen, the testifier met the burghers Pieter de Vos, David Senekal and Schalk van der Merwe Jacobusz, whom she asked to capture the slave Claas, to take him with them and to take him to her husband in Stellenbosch who could do with him what he wanted, telling them all at once everything that had happened.

There being nothing further to declare, the testifier asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of her statement as in the text, being willing to subsequently confirm this, her statement, if it may be required.

Thus related at Stellenbosch on 29 October 1744, in the presence of the messenger of the court Jan van Ellewe and the soldier Arend Wilkens, requested hereto as witnesses.

[signed] Anna Marais.

As witnesses, [signed] J. van Ellewe, Arend Wilckens.

With my cognisance, [signed] A. Schephausen, secretary.