1775 Moses van de Caab
As the majority of slaves during the eighteenth century were imported, it meant that there were speakers of a wide range of languages at the Cape. Since many came from South and Southeast Asia, where Creole Portuguese and Malay were well entrenched as contact languages,1 these languages were widely used at the Cape by the second half of the century, especially (but not exclusively) amongst slaves.2 Even so, the great variety of circumstances and individuals at the Cape could easily lead to misunderstandings, as illustrated in this case where an argument between two slaves on a Stellenbosch farm was exacerbated by the problems they had understanding each other’s language: Moses van de Caab was born in the colony, while Januarij had been imported from India and spoke no Dutch and only a little Portuguese, presumably the only languages Moses could speak.3 The wide variety of regions from which slaves were brought to the Cape was also one factor which inhibited the development of a distinctive slave culture rooted in the area of origin.4
Januarij subsequently died of his wound, and the case was sent to the Council of Justice, where Moses van de Caab was charged with ‘wrathfully throwing a knife’ and causing Januarij’s death. He was sentenced to 25 years on the public works at Robben Island.5
Footnotes
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For the use of Creole Portuguese and Malay as contact languages in these regions, see Groeneboer 1993: 16-28, 45-7, 92-3. ↩
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Slaves spoke their own mother tongues to other fellow speakers where they had contact with them (such as Bugis, which seems to have been quite widespread in the second half of the eighteenth century, Davids 1994: 46-7), but since slaves from a wide variety of linguistic backgrounds were usually together on a farm or in a household, they often had to resort to a lingua franca. The language used changed over time in accordance with variations in the regions from which slaves were imported. Thus it seems unlikely that Creole Portuguese was used as a general contact language at the Cape before about 1700, and Malay probably only from some decades later (Groenewald 2002: 92-3 and 213-16). On Creole Portuguese and Malay at the Cape, see Den Besten 1997: 330-43 and 2000: 953-59; Franken 1953: 41-79; and Ponelis 1993: 14-17. For knowledge of these contact languages (or lack of it) amongst the burgher population, see the discussion in 1763 Christina Strang, n. 12. ↩
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Januarij is described as ‘van Bengalen’ in the surgeon’s report, CJ 409, vol. 4, f. 242 [modern pagination]. Moses may well have understood some Creole Portuguese or Malay, but not the indigenous Asian language spoken by Januarij. ↩
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This is not to say that slaves did not possess any cultural identity, but rather that it was formed at the Cape with an admixture of local and Indian Ocean roots. On language and slave culture at the Cape, see Ross 1983: 14-15 and Worden 1985: 94-5. ↩
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‘grammoedige werping met een mes naar desselfs meede slaaf Januarij, mitsgaders daardoor veroorsaakte quetsing en opgevolgde neederslag’ (wrathfully throwing a knife at his fellow slave Januarij, and also the wounding caused by it and the resulting collapse). Moses claimed that it was an accident, CJ 409, f. 247 [modern pagination]. The full sentence was a public whipping and 25 years on Robben Island, with costs, CJ 57, ff. 39-40. The eijscheijschLiterally ‘claim’ or ‘demand.’ This is strictly speaking the eijsch ende conclusie without the final part about sentencing, but the term is often used as a shorthand for the whole document. had recommended a life sentence on Robben Island, which probably came to much the same thing, CJ 409, f. 225 [modern pagination]. In addition to the testimony of October given here, the full documentation for the case includes the sententie (CJ 793, ff. 240-48), the eijscheijschLiterally ‘claim’ or ‘demand.’ This is strictly speaking the eijsch ende conclusie without the final part about sentencing, but the term is often used as a shorthand for the whole document. and the testimonies of Slammat van Boegies, Solomon van de Caab, Fortuijn van Bengalen, the surgeon’s report on the body of Januarij van Bengalen, as well as the interrogation of Moses, CJ 409, vol. 4, ff. 215-51 [modern pagination]. ↩
1/STB **3/11** Criminele Verklaringen, 1759-1782, unpaginated.
Statement given on the requisition of the honourable landdrost, Marthinus Adrianus Bergh, by the slave October van de Caab, of competent age, belonging to the burgher Anna Hesselaar, widow of the late burgher Christoffel Groenewald, which is of the following content, namely:
That one afternoon on his owner’s farm when he, the testifier, and his fellow slaves, Slammat, Fortuijn, Salomon, Moses and Januarij, had been busy for some days transporting grapes with the ox-wagon, and to this end were spanning in the wagon, loaded with young grapes, at the vineyard there, the testifier, as also the slave Moses, who each, while doing the inspanning, had a pair of oxen on their hands, both started an altercation with each other, when the testifier said to Moses that he should move the cattle out of the way lest they kick him, and the said Moses answered: “I cannot do that”. He then called out to his fellow slave Januarij, who was standing approximately six steps to the side behind him, with these words (by your leave): “Motherfucker, drive the oxen forward”; then, when the said Januarij (since being rather stupid, and understanding no Dutch but a little Portuguese) did not manage to do this quickly enough, Moses drew a knife with its sheath from the pocket of his trousers and took it with its sheath by the point and then threw that knife with its sheath in such a way at the said Januarij that it flew out of its sheath and hit him, Januarij, in his leg in such a manner that he immediately fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from his leg. Whereupon the said Moses took his kerchief from his head and, after dressing the wounds with it as best they could, they put the aforementioned Januarij on the aforesaid wagon and took him to the house of their owner.
There being nothing more to relate, the testifier asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of his statement as in the text, being willing to subsequently confirm the aforesaid, if so required.
Thus related at the office of the secretary at Stellenbosch on 10 March 1775 in the presence of the messenger of the court Morits Herman Otto Woeke and the burgher Johannes Engel, as witnesses.
This mark X was made on his own by the slave October.
As witnesses, [signed] M.H.O. Woeke, J. Engel.
With my cognisance, [signed] A. Faure, secretary.
Relaas gegeven ter requisitie van den heer landdrost, Marthinus Adrianus Bergh, door den slaaf October van de Caab, van competenten ouderdom, toebehoorende de burgeresse Anna Hasselaar, weduwe wijlen den burger Christoffel Groenewald, zijnde van den volgende inhoud, namentlijk:
Dat wanneer den relatant en de mede slaven Slammat, Fortuijn, Salomon, Moses en Januarij, voor eenige dagen,1 des voormiddags, ter hunner lijfvrouws plaats, met de ossewagen beesig waren om druijven te rijden, en ten dien einde bij de aldaar staande wijngaard, de mosdruijven beladene wagen in te spannen, hij relatant, gelijk ook den slaaf Moses, ieder een paar ossen onder ’t inspannen aan de hand hadden, zij beijde met elkander woorden hadden gekregen; zeggende den relatant tegens Moses dat hij de beesten uit den weg zoude trekken, dat deselve hem schoppen zouden, en gemelde Moses g’antwoord hebbende: Dat kan ik niet doen, denselven voorts den mede slaaf Januarij, die na gissing omtrent ses treeden ter zijde agter hem stond, met deese woorden toegeroepen hebbende: (s.v.) Moern...2, jaag de ossen aan, dan wijl gedagte Januarij (als zeer dom zijnde, en geen Duijtsch, maar wijnig Portugees, verstaat) sulx niet gaauw genoeg kwam te doen, had hij Moses een mes met de scheede uit zijn broeksak gehaald en hetselve, met de scheede, bij de punt gevat hebbende, alstoen dat mes met de scheede zodanig naar gedagte Januarij geworpen dat hetselve uit de scheede gevlogen en hem Januarij dermaten in het been getroffen had, dat hij Januarij aanstonds daarop ter aarde was komende vallen, terwijl denselven aan zijn been zeer sterk gebloed had, waarop gerepte Moses zijn doek van ’t hoofd genomen en zijlieden, zo goed zij konden, de wonde daar mede verbonden hebbende, meergemelde Januarij op voormelde wagen geset en naar ’t huijs van hunne lijfvrouw gebragt hadden.
Anders niet relateerende, geeft den relatant voor reedenen van wetenschap als in den text, bereijd zijnde het vorenstaande, des vereijscht werdende, nader te zullen gestand doen.
Aldus gerelateerd ter secretarije aan Stellenbosch, den 10e Maart 1775, in ’t bijweesen van de bode Morits Herman Otto Woeke en de burger Johannes Engel, als getuijgen.
Dit X merk is door den slaaf October eijgenhandig gesteld.
Als getuijgen, [get.] M.H.O. Woeke, J. Engel.
In kennisse van mij, [get.] A. Faure, secretaris.