1779 Ontong van Boegies and Adonis van de Caab
This case involved an argument between Ontong van Boegies and the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ who was in charge of the vine harvesting. The owner supported the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ fully, urging him to carry on beating Ontong. Ontong played for time by holding a knife to his own throat, but later threatened both his owner and the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ with it.
The case is typical of conflicts in the court records over the authority of knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’.1 But it is also interesting for the actions of Ontong’s fellow slave, Adonis van de Caab. He attempted to use this episode to his own advantage, by changing his original evidence of what happened and by telling the authorities that Ontong was innocent and the fault lay with the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ and their owner. Under cross-examination he confessed that he did this to spite his owner, and it was revealed that he had made plans to escape. Adonis was punished by the landdrost, rather than by the Council of Justice, but the case shows how slaves could try to use the legal system of the Company to their own advantage against their owners.2
Footnotes
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For discussion of knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ and their role as slave overseers, see 1761 Johan Spring in ’t Veld, n. 1. In this case the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ was a burgher and therefore a so-called vrijknecht, not the more usual leenknecht (on the difference, see De Wet 1981: 100-2; Shell 1994: 12-13). ↩
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Other testimonies included were those of Johannes Nieuwout, Pieter Engelbrecht and Arij Visagie, and the interrogation of Ontong van Boegies, CJ 413, ff. 297-329. ↩
CJ 2487 Inkoomende Brieven, 1776-1780, Deel 3, f. 125.
Most honourable Lord!
Yesterday, Johannes Nieuwout, a burgher from Drakenstein, delivered into custody here his 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. named Ontong van Boegies, who, while he was busy in the vineyard gathering grapes and was being reprimanded by the fellow burgher, Pieter Engelbregt, who lives with the said Nieuwout, over some neglect, in a most outrageous manner attacked first the said Engelbregt and then his owner with a knife. Bound by duty, I have with this the honour to give a report of the same to your most honourable Lord; the said slave 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. is being transported in custody to the Cape so that I could soon conduct the necessary investigation concerning the accusation against him; while I am with due respect,
Most honourable Lord!
Your most honourable Lord’s obedient servant, [signed] O.G. de Wet.
Stellenbosch, 12 March 1779.
CJ 2487 Inkoomende Brieven, 1776-1780, Deel 3, ff. 128-29.
Most honourable Lord!
The slave 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. Adonis van de Caab, belonging to the burgher Johannes Nieuwout, came just this moment to me and informed me that he did not act in good faith concerning the statement he gave in the case against Ontong van Boegies, a fellow slave of the said Nieuwout, pending before the honourable Council of Justice, as he, out of fear for his owner, gave the statement in accordance with what his owner had instructed him; saying subsequently that the prisoner did not abuse his owner, nor did he chase after him with a knife, but that the prisoner did put the knife against his own throat and threatened his owner with cutting his own throat, while declaring further that the prisoner was unfairly beaten by the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ Engelbregt with a stick; which stick he had brought along and showed me. I considered it my duty to provisionally inform your most honourable instantly, while I have summoned the aforementioned Nieuwout to me in order to shed further light on the matter; and I shall report later to your most honourable of what I shall come to discover during his appearance.
In the meantime, I have the honour to be with due respect,
Most honourable Lord!
Your most honourable’s humble and obedient servant, [signed] O.G. de Wet.
Stellenbosch, 6 May 1779.
CJ 2487 Inkoomende Brieven, 1776-1780, Deel 3, ff. 130-32.
Most honourable Lord!
Concerning the information of the slave Adonis van de Caab, belonging to the burgher Johannes Nieuwout, viz. that in his statement given in the case of his fellow slave, Ontong van Boegies, he deviated from the truth, as I had had the honour to provisionally report to your most honourable in my previous [letter], I now have to report further to your most honourable that the same Adonis, having been heard today in the presence of his owner, stubbornly continues to persist with his aforesaid. Yet, after he had been urged more than once by his owner to say what had brought him to such lies, and if he did not enjoy everything from him that a slave could enjoy from his owner; he kept silent about the first, but could bring to the last nothing other than to address his owner with these words: “Why was 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. so against me with 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.’?” Upon which Nieuwout told the story that the said Adonis had got involved with a so-called Bosjesmans-Hottentot woman residing on his farm, and that he had prevented the same Adonis from doing so because of the vice of this Hottentot woman (whom he intended to let go in order to prevent further corruption amongst his slaves). From which it then appears that because of this, this 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. became inflamed with vengeance against his owner, and had made use of this underhand trick to accuse his owner of having persuaded him to give a false statement. This can be further deduced from the request made to me by Adonis, viz. to be released from his owner, while adding that he would after all do no good there, and in which request he certainly imagined himself not to be denied, since – apart from some money and a double set of clothes he had supplied himself with – he had also, according to his own admission, left hidden between here and Paarl an assegaaijassegaaijThis word for a spear or javelin entered European languages via Spanish (azagaya) from Arabic and Berber in the late Middle Ages. Since the foundation of the Cape colony in the mid-seventeenth century, it was used to refer to the spears of the Khoikhoi, and later also for those of other indigenous people in southern Africa., a violin, as well as some clothes and trifles. This is abundantly proved when one considers the contradiction in the case, viz. to suppose that Nieuwout was so totally beyond himself that, in order to advance his own damage and the undeniable loss which the absence of the slave Ontong would have caused, he would have polluted himself by giving a false statement, in accordance with the deposition of the aforementioned Adonis, and doing it under oath, through which, as he himself expresses it, he would have brought innocent blood on him and his children.1 For which reason I then also request your most honourable, taking into consideration all of this, to please allow, in accordance with the supplication of the said Nieuwout and to prevent further damage and manifold expences, the aforementioned Adonis to be punished domestically here at the drostdij and to be returned to his owner. While I have the honour to be, with all respect,
Most honourable Lord!
Your most honourable’s humble and obedient servant, [signed] O.G. de Wet.
Stellenbosch, 8 May 1779.
Footnotes
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An intriguing indication of the concept that the spilling of ‘innocent blood’ (including that of slaves) could bring misfortune not only to the perpetrator, but also to his descendants. It echoes Matthew 27:25, and may show how some Biblical injunctions were part of the mental world of Cape burghers. ↩
Weledelachtbare heer!
Gisteren heeft den Drakenstijnsen burger Johannes Nieuwout, alhier in hegtenis overgeleverd, desselfs slave jongen, genaamt Ontong van Boegies, denwelken, in den wijngaard met den druijflees bezig zijnde en door den, bij gemelde Nieuwout wonende, meede burger Pieter Engelbregt over eenig verzuim gereprimandeert werdende, zig tegens gedagte Engelbregt, en vervolgens tegens zijn lijfheer, op eene verregaande wijse met ’t mes heeft geopposeerdt. Van ’tzelve heb ik d’ eer u weledelachtbare bij dezen plichtschuldig rapport te doen; werdende gedagte slave jongen na de Caab in hegtenis getransporteerd, om eerstdaags tegens denzelven de nodige enquesten in fama te kunnen beleggen; terwijl met verschuldigde hoogachting ben,
Weledelachtbare heer!
U weledelachtbarens onderdanigen dienaar, [get.] O.G. de Wet.
Stellenbosch, den 12e Maart 1779.
CJ 2487 Inkoomende Brieven, 1776-1780, Deel 3, ff. 128-29.
Weledelachtbare heer!
Den slave jongen Adonis van de Caab, toebehoorende den burger Johannes Nieuwout, zig op dit ogenblik bij mij hebbende vervoegt en te kennen gegeven, dat hij omtrent zijn gegeven verklaring in de zaak tegens Ontong van Boegies, meede slaaf van gemelde Nieuwout voor den edelachtbaare Rade van Justitie hangende, niet ter goeder trouwe was te werk gegaan, als hebbende, uit vrees voor zijn lijfheer, de verklaring zodanig verleend, als hem zijn lijfheer opgegeven had; zeggende nader, dat den gevangen op zijn lijfheer niet gescholden heeft, nog hem met ’t mes agteraan is gevolgd, maar dat den gevangen wel ’t mes tegens de keel gezet en zijn lijfheer gedreigd heeft zigzelfs de keel af te snijden; onder betuiging wijders, dat den gevangen door den knegt Engelbregt ten onregten was geslagen geworden met een stok die hij meede bragt en mij vertoonde; achte ik ’t van mijn plicht u weledelachtbare hiervan provisioneel ten spoedigsten kennisse te geven; terwijl ik, om nader ligt in de zaak te bekomen, voornoemde Nieuwout bij mij ontbaden heb, en van ’tgeend bij ’t compareeren van denzelven kome te ontdekken, u weledelachtbare nader verslag zal doen.
Middelerwijl d’ eer hebbende met schuldige eerbied te zijn,
Weledelachtbare heer!
U Weledelachtbarens ootmoedigen en gehoorzamen dienaar, [get.] O.G. de Wet.
Stellenbosch, d’ 6e Maij 1779.
CJ 2487 Inkoomende Brieven, 1776-1780, Deel 3, ff. 130-32.
Weledelachtbare heer!
Omtrent het te kennen geven van den slaaf Adonis van de Caab, toebehorende den burger Johannes Nieuwout, dat hij zijn verklaring in de zaak van den meede slaaf Ontong van Boegies zoude hebben verleend met afwijking van de waarheid, gelijk bij mijne vorige d’ eer heb gehad u weledelachtbare provisioneel te berigten, moet ik u weledelachtbare thans nader rapporteren, dat denzelven Adonis, heden gehoord zijnde in tegenwoordigheid van zijn lijfheer, halstarrig bij zijn voorseijde gezegde is blijven persisteren. Dog, nadat hij door zijn lijfheer een en andermaal gedrongen was geworden om te zeggen wat reden hem Adonis tot zulk een leugentaal had gebragt, en of hij niet al van hem genoot dat een slaaf van zijn lijfheer te genooten had, konde denzelven, op ’t eerste zwijgende, tegens ’t laaste niets inbrengen; maar voerde hij zijn lijfheer in deeze woorden te gemoed: Maar waarom is baas mij dan zo tegen geweest met de mijd? Op ’twelke Nieuwout verhaalde dat gemelde Adonis zig ingelaten hebbende met eene zogenaamde Bosjesmans Hottentottin, bij hem woonachtig, hij, om de ondeugd van deeze Hottentottin (die hij voornemens was, tot voorkoming van verder bederf onder zijne slaven, te laten gaan) denzelven Adonis daarin had verhinderd. Waaruit dan blijkt dat deezen jongen hierover met een wraaktlust tegen zijn lijfheer bezielt geraakt zijnde, ’t sinister practijcq heeft gebruikt om zijn lijfheer te betigtigen dat denzelven hem tot het verlenen van een valsche verklaring had gepersuadeert. Dit kan nader worden afgenomen uit ’t verzoek, door hem Adonis bij mij gedaan, om van zijn lijfheer ontslagen te mogen worden, met bijvoeging dat hij dog geen goed bij denzelven zoude doen, en in welk verzoek hij zig zekerlijk verbeeld heeft niet te zullen missen, als hebbende, behalven eenig geld en dubbele klederen, waarvan hij hem had voorzien, nog tusschen dit en de Paarl, volgens zijn eigen bekentenis, verborgen gelaten: een assegaij, een viool, nevens eenige klederen en klijnigheden. Het gezegde word ten overvloede geprobeert wanneer men de contradictie in de zaak zelve betragt, om hem Nieuwout namentlijk te supponeren zig zelven zo verre te hebben vergeten, dat hij, ter bevorderinge van zijn eigen schade en ontegensprakelijk verlies als ’t gemis van den slaaf Ontong meede brengt, zig zoude bezoedelen met het verlenen van een valsch relaas, strokende met de depositie van voormelde Adonis en het beëedigen van dien, waardoor dus, gelijk hij zig uitdrukte, onschuldig bloed zoude werden gebragt op hem en zijne kinderen. Om welke redenen dan ook verzoeke dat u weledelachtbare op ’t een en andere reguard nemende, gelieve te permitteren dat, ingevolge ’t supplicq van gedagte Nieuwout, om zijne verdere schade en veelvuldige oncosten te vermijden, meergemelde Adonis alhier ter drostdije domesticq worde afgestraft en aan zijn lijfheer terug geleverd. Terwijl d’eer heb, met alle hoogachting, te zijn,
Weledelachtbare heer!
U weledelachtbarens ootmoedigen en gehoorzamen dienaar, [get.] O.G. de Wet.
Stellenbosch, den 8e Maij 1779.
CJ 413 Criminele Process Stukken, 1779, deel 2, ff. 315-19.
There appears before us, the undersigned delegates, from the honourable Council of Justice of this government, the slave 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. Adonis van de Caab, belonging to the burgher Jan Nieuwout, of competent age, who, on the requisition of the landdrost of Stellenbosch, the honourable onderkoopmanonderkoopmanThe administrative or civil sector of the VOC was divided into six categories of rank, with the governor-general at the head of the first one. Most of the titles used for these ranks were derived from the merchant origins of the VOC, but in practice a rank did not equate with a person’s function. Onderkoopman, literally ‘vice or deputy merchant’ but usually translated as ‘junior merchant’, was a rank in the fourth category, senior to boekhouder (‘bookkeeper’) but below that of koopman (‘merchant’). Olof Godlieb de Wet, declares it to be true:
That during the morning of a certain Thursday, about fourteen days ago now, without wishing to hazard a guess about the precise date, when the deponent was busy, together with his fellow slave Ontong van Boegies and the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ of his said owner, by the name of Pieter Engelbregt, cutting grapes in the vineyard, the said Ontong, who was some paces away from them, asked the said Engelbregt whether he, Ontong, too should be cutting, and when Engelbregt answered to this that he should just continue with the carrying and that he, Engelbregt, would finish cutting the row, this 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. immediately cursed the aforementioned Engelbregt for a moervreeter1 and a child of a whore, and then asked whether Engelbregt, had anything else to order as well, while adding: “Come, try and beat me!”, whereupon the said Engelbregt took up a piece of fire wood and gave this 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. some blows with it; while in the meantime the deponent’s aforesaid owner called to Engelbregt: “Go on, hit him!”, which is when the aforementioned Engelbregt dealt the prisoner some more blows. Meanwhile, the said Ontong made some movements with his arm, in which he held a boslemmer knife,2 in the direction of the said Engelbregt, but the said Engelbregt dealt this 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. a blow on his arm with a piece of wood so that he let it drop on the ground, and when the aforementioned Ontong again wanted to pick up the knife with his other hand, he received another blow on his back and fell to the ground as a result of it.
That the deponent’s owner, who in the meantime had got there, reprimanded this 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. and when he said: “Old scoundrel! why do you not listen?” the said Ontong suddenly put his knife to his [own] throat, and said to his owner: “Come on, motherfucker! Try and beat me!”
That as the deponent’s owner returned to the house again, the said Ontong went after him for some paces with a [carrying] pole3 and a knife in his hand, but immediately returned to the said Engelbrecht and the deponent, when Engelbregt and the deponent, from fear that they might be attacked by this 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., walked backwards some way, but when they noticed that this 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., after having followed them for some paces, was standing still, they too stood still, which is when the said Ontong, while continually cursing and while cutting to pieces some vines with his knife, called to them: “Come here, now!”; but that, shortly thereafter, the said Ontong picked up his two baskets with grapes and took them to the cellar where the same was then also, so he was told, tied up by the burgher Arij Visagie and transported to Stellenbosch.
There being nothing more to declare, the deponent asserts to be convinced of the certainty of his statement as in the text, and declares further, in the presence of the slave Ontong van Boegies, all of the above to be the whole truth.
Thus done and verified in the Castle of Good Hope on 29 March 1779 before the honourables Lodewijk Christoph Warneck and Christiaan George Maasdorp, members of the honourable Council of Justice, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the deponent and me, the sworn clerk.
Which I declare, [signed] C.L. Kloege, sworn clerk.
Footnotes
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This is probably a variation of the Dutch moerneuker, ‘motherfucker’, common at the Cape in both its Dutch and Portuguese forms (see 1761 Johan Spring in ’t Veld, n. 3). ↩
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A boslemmermes is described as a ‘hunting knife’ but at the Cape this knife – which had a short, usually curved, blade – was used especially for the harvesting of grapes. From the 1790s, with the re-establishment of the Hernhutt mission at Genadendal, it was produced there and became known in Afrikaans as a Genadendalmes or herneutermes (Scholtz 1965: 158; Boshoff & Nienaber 1967: 283; Balie 1988: 61-2). ↩
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These are called pikolan in both Malay and modern Indonesian and were used to carry baskets or buckets of water over the shoulders. The Afrikaans verb piekel, ‘to lug, carry’, originates from this (Boshoff & Nienaber 1967: 497). ↩
Compareerde voor ons, ondergetekende gecommitteerdens uijt den edelagtbaare Raad van Justitie deeses gouvernements, den slaven jongen Adonis van de Caab, toebehorende den burger Jan Nieuwout, van competenten ouderdom, denwelken, ter requisitie van den onderkoopman en landdrost van Stellenbosch, d’edele Olof Godlieb de Wet, verklaarde hoe waar is:
Dat den comparant op zeekeren Donderdag, ’s morgens, nu omtrent veerthien dagen voorleden, zonder in den positiven tijd bepaald te willen zijn, met zijn mede slaaf, Ontong van Boegies, en den knegt van gemelde zijn leijfheer, in name Pieter Engelbregt, in den wijngaard met druijven te snijden beesig geweest zijnde, gemelde Ontong alsdoen, die eenige treeden van henlieden af was, gemelde Engelbregt had gevraagt of hij Ontong ook snijden moest, en wanneer gemelde Engelbregt daarop was komen te antwoorden dat hij maar dragen moest, en dat hij Engelbregt desselfs reij wel afsneijden zoude, had dien jongen meergemelde Engelbregt opstonds voor een moervreeter en hoerekind uijtgescholden, met bijgevoegde vrage of hij Engelbregt ook iets te commandeeren had, met bijvoeging: Komt slaat mij eens!, zulx gemelde Engelbregt een stuk brandhout genomen en dien jongen eenige slagen daarmede gegeven had; hebbende intusschen ’s comparants voorseijde leijfheer gemelde Engelbregt toegeroepen: Toe raakt wat!, als wanneer gemelde Engelbregt dien jongen nog eenige slagen gegeven had, intusschen dat gemelde Ontong met zijn arm, waarin een boslemmermes hield, eenige beweeging op gemelde Engelbregt maakte, dog dat gemelde Engelbregt dien jongen met ’t stuk hout een slag op desselfs arm toegebragt hebbende, hetzelve op de grond had laten vallen, terwijl voormelde Ontong, zo als met d’ andere hand, ’t mes wederom had willen optellen, wederom een slag op desselfs rug bekomen, en daardoor op de grond gevallen was.
Dat ’s comparants gemelde leijfheer, die intusschen daar bij gekomen was, dien jongen bekeeven hebbende, onder ’t zeggen: Oude rakker!, waarom luijstert gij niet?, gemelde Ontong opstonds zijn mes aan zijne keel geset en tot zijn leijfheer gesegt had: Toe moerneuker!, slaat mij eens!
Dat so als des comparants leijfheer wederom terug naar huijs quam te gaan, gemelde Ontong met een draagstok en ’t mes in zijne hand hem eenige treeden agteraan gegaan, egter immediaat wederom terug naar gemelde Engelbregt en hem comparant gekomen was; zulx meergemelde Engelbregt en hij comparant uijt vreese, dat door dien jongen mogten werden g’attaqueert, wat agteruijt gelopen zijnde, zijlieden egter, op ’t ontwaren dat dien jonge, naar henlieden eenige treeden agtervolgt te hebben, staan bleef, mede staan gebleven waren; als wanneer gemelde Ontong, onder geduurig schelden en onder het stukkent snijden van eenige wijnstokken met zijn mes, henlieden had toegeroepen: Komt nu hier!, dog dat kort daarop gemelde Ontong zijne twee manden met druijven genomen en naar den kelder gebragt had; alwaar denselven dan ook, volgens horen zeggen, door den burger Arij Visagie vast gemaakt en naar Stellenbosch getransporteert geworden was.
Niets meer verklarende, geeft den comparant voor redenen van weetenschap als in den text, en betuijgde voorts, ter presentie van den slaaf Ontong van Boegies, al het voorenstaande de suijvere waarheijd te zijn.
Aldus gedaan ende gerecolleert in ’t Casteel de Goede Hoop, den 29e Maart 1779, voor d’ edele Lodewijk Christoph Warneck en Christiaan George Maasdorp, leden uijt den edelagtbaare Raad van Justitie, voornoemd, die de minute deeses, beneevens den comparant ende mij, geswooren clercq, mede behoorlijk hebben ondertekent.
’Twelk ik getuijge, [get.] C.L. Kloege, geswoore clercq.
CJ 794 Sententiën, 1777-1781, ff. 161-70.
Since Ontong van Boegies, slave of the farmer Johannes Nieuwout, 50 years old at a guess, currently their honours’ prisoner, has voluntarily confessed and, since from the other documents produced in the case, it has appeared clear as daylight to the honourable Council of Justice:
That on a Thursday morning about the middle of the month March of this year, or at the time of wine pressing, when the prisoner, who works on his owner’s farm, called De Salomons Valleij, situated in the Drakenstein district, was in the vineyard together with the burgher Pieter Engelbregt, who lives as knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ with the prisoner’s owner, as also his fellow slave Adonis, and asked if he too should cut grapes, he was answered by the aforesaid Engelbregt, who was then in the same row of vines about twenty paces from him, that he should rather carry the grapes to the cellar, as he, Engelbregt, would himself cut that row. The prisoner immediately cursed Engelbregt for a moervreeter and a child of a whore and asked if Engelbregt had anything else to order as well, at the same time adding: “Come, try and beat me!”
That at this, Engelbregt took up a piece of firewood and went to the prisoner and dealt him, because of his insolence, two or three blows with it. The prisoner’s owner, who had seen and heard from his house that the prisoner was raging against the aforementioned Engelbregt with swear words, therefore went to the vineyard and called from afar to Engelbregt: “Go on, hit him!”, upon which the aforementioned Engelbregt gave the prisoner some more blows and, noticing then that the prisoner made a small movement with his arm, in which hand he was holding a boslemmer knife, he at once gave the prisoner a blow on this arm with the result that the knife fell from the prisoner’s hand onto the ground, and moreover, when the prisoner tried to pick up the same again with his other hand, he gave him a second blow on his back, in such a way that the prisoner fell down to the ground. The prisoner’s owner, who had meanwhile come closer, was reprimanding the prisoner for his insolence and actions but was informed by the aforesaid Engelbregt that the prisoner had a knife in his hands.
That the prisoner then, while uttering a most slanderous curse against his owner, and saying continuously: “So, you want to get it?”, put the knife with its sharp side against his, the prisoner’s, throat; and since the prisoner’s owner had nothing in his hands, he consequently retreated slowly from the prisoner, thinking that the prisoner would kill himself. However, instead of this, the prisoner followed his aforesaid owner for some paces with a pole and a knife in his hands, yet shortly thereupon he stood still, turned around and returned again to the aforesaid Engelbregt and Adonis, who had retreated somewhat out of fear that the prisoner might attack them with the knife he was holding in his hands.
That meanwhile, while his owner was going to his house, the prisoner stood still and, out of anger, while constantly cursing, cut to pieces with his knife the branches of the vineyard surrounding him, while also at the same time repeatedly shouting: “Come here, now!” However, after the prisoner calmed down, he picked up his two baskets of grapes and took them to the cellar where, at his owner’s request, the prisoner’s knife was skilfully pulled from the pocket of his trousers while he was putting down the baskets and thrown away by the burgher Arij Visage, who just then was visiting his owner and had gone from the house to the cellar for this purpose. The prisoner asked the aforesaid Visage why he was throwing away his knife, to which Visage similarly replied with a question, viz. why the prisoner had threatened his owner with it, to which the prisoner, in his anger, said something, which, however, was not understood by Visage. The aforementioned Visage immediately took hold of the prisoner and brought him from the cellar to his owner in the house, where he was tied up and transported to Stellenbosch and thus delivered into the hands of justice.
But since doings like these can under no circumstances be left unpunished in a country where law and justice are upheld, but should, as an example and deterrent to other such scoundrels, be punished according to circumstances.
Thus it is, that the honourable Council of Justice, aforementioned, serving today, having carefully read and considered the written crimineelen eijsh en conclusie drawn up and delivered for and against the prisoner by the landdrost of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, the honourable Olof Godlieb de Wet, in his official capacity, as well as having noted the prisoner’s voluntary confession and moreover everything which further served the case and could have moved their honours, practising justice in the name and on behalf of the high and mighty Lords States General of the United Netherlands, having judged the prisoner Ontong van Boegies, is sentencing him with this: to be taken to the usual place of justice, there to be handed over to the executioner, to be exposed with the rope around his neck under the gallows, thereafter to be tied to a stake, to be severely scourged with rods on his bare back, thereupon to be branded and then to be put into chains, in which to labour his whole life on the honourable Company’s public works on Robben Island, with sentencing to the costs and expenditures of justice; and denying the otherwise drawn up 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. of the officer.1
Thus done and sentenced in the Castle of Good Hope on 6 May 1779, as also pronounced and executed on the 15th thereupon.2
Let the sentence be done, [signed] Jm. van Plettenberg.
[signed] P. Hacker, A. van Schoor, L.C. Warneck, T.C. Rönnekamp, P.L. le Suëur, Gs. Hk. Cruijwagen, S. v. Echten, C.G. Maasdorp, G.H. Meijer.
In my presence, [signed] C.L. Neethling, secretary.
Footnotes
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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. recommended death by hanging, CJ 413, vol. 1, f. 295. ↩
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The case was first brought to the Council of Justice on 22 April 1779. Ontong said he did not deserve punishment, and the case was held over for further consideration until 6 May when the sentence above was passed, CJ 61, ff. 22-3. However, Adonis’s change of testimony, received on the same day, probably delayed the execution, which only took place on 15 May. ↩
Nademaal Ontong van Boegies, slaaf van den landbouwer Johannes Nieuwout, oud na gissing vijftig jaaren, thans ’s heeren gevangen, vrijwillig beleeden heeft, en den edelagtbaare Raad van Justitie, uijt de verdere, ten processe gevoegde, stucken, sonneklaar gebleeken is:
Dat wanneer den gevangen, die bescheijden geweest is op zijn lijfheer, in ’t district van Drakensteijn geleegen, in de Salomons Valleij genoemden plaats, zig omtrent het midden van de maand Maart jongstleeden, of in de perstijd, op een Donderdagmorgen, beneevens den, als knegt bij des gevangens lijfheer woonenden, burger Pieter Engelbregt, mitsgaders den meede slaaf Adonis, in den wijngaard had bevonden, en voorseijde Engelbregt, op des gevangens vrage, of hij gevangen ook druijven snijden moest, aan den gevangen, die toen in dieselve reij wijngaardstocken, omtrend twintig treeden van hem af geweest was, tot antwoord gegeeven had, dat hij gev. de druijven maar na den kelder dragen moest, dewijl hij Engelbregt die reij zelfs wel afsnijden zoude. Den gevangen voorseijde Engelbregt opstonds voor een moervreeter en hoerekind gescholden en gevraagt had of hij Engelbrecht ook iets had te commandeeren, teffens daarbij gevoegt hebbende: Komt slaat mij eens!
Dat voorseijde Engelbregt mitsdien een stuk brandhout opgenomen, zig na den gevangen begeeven en denselven, over zijne brutaliteijd, daarmeede twee à drie slagen toegebragt hebbende; des gevangens lijfheer, die vanuijt zijn woonhuijs had ontwaard en gehoord dat den gevangen tegens meergemelde Engelbregt met scheldwoorden te keer ging, overzulks na den wijnberg gegaan was, en voorseijde Engelbregt van verre toegeroepen had: Toe raakt wat!, zulks meergemelde Engelbregt, den gevangen nog eenige slagen had gegeeven; dan ontwaard hebbende dat den gevangen met zijnen arm, in welkers hand denselven een boslemmermes hield, eene klijne beweeging quam te maken, had gemelde Engelbregt den gevangen opstonds een slag op dien arm toegebragt, met dat effect dat daar door het mes uijt des gevangens hand en op de aarde was gevallen, mitsgaders soo als den gevangen poogde hetzelve met de andere hand weeder op te neemen, denselven een tweede slag op den rugge gegeeven had, dermaaten dat den gevangen op de aarde needergevallen was; hebbende des gevangens lijfheer, die ondertusschen nader bij gekomen was, den gevangen over zijne assurantie en bedrijf bekeeven; en voorseijde Engelbregt des gevangens lijfheer voorts verwittigt dat den gevangen een mes in handen had.
Dat den gevangen alsdoen, onder het uijtten van een, teegens zijn lijfheer gerigt, seer vilain scheldwoord, en ’t herhaalde zeggen: Kijk, wilt gij ’t eens zien?, het mes met het scherp, tegens zijn gevangens keel geset hebbende, des gevangens lijfheer, vermits niets in handen hadde, zig dierhalven zagtjes van den gevangen had geretireert, dewijl vermeijnde dat den gevangen hem zelfs te kort doen zoude; dog dat den gevangen, in steede van dien, zijn voorseijde lijfheer, met een draagstok en ’t mes in handen, eenige treeden agteraangevolgt, dog kort daarop stil gestaan had, zig omgekeert en weeder na voorseijde Engelbregt en Adonis gekeert was, zulks dezelve hun iets agterwaards begeeven hadden, uijt vreese dat den gevangen hun, met het in handen houdenden mes, aanvallen mogte.
Dat den gevangen, middelerwijl dat desselfs lijfheer zig na huijs begeeven had, stil gestaan en, onder gestadig schelden, uijt boosheijd de rondsom [sic] hem staande wijngaardstocken, met zijn mes stuckend gesneeden, mitsgaders teffens bij herhaalinge geroepen hebbende: Komt nu hier! Den gevangen egter vervolgens bedaard was, zijne twee manden met druijven opgenoomen en dezelve na den kelder gebragt had; alwaar den gevangen, op versoek van zijn lijfheer, door den, zig juist bij hem bevondenen, burger Arij Visage, dewelke zig ten dien eijnde vanuijt het woonhuijs, na den kelder had begeeven, onder ’t neederzetten der manden, op ’t onverwagtst, het mes behendiglijk uijt zijn broekzak gerukt, en elders heen geworpen zijnde; hij gevangen aan voorseijde Visage gevraagt had waarom denselven zijn gevangens mes weggooijde, op ’twelke meergemelde Visage, den gevangen insgelijx vragenderwijse, toegevoegt hebbende waarom den gevangen zijn lijfheer daarmeede gedreijgt had, den gevangen daarop, in zijne quaadheijd, wel iets had gezegt, ’tgeen door gemelde Visage egter niet verstaan was; des meergemelde Visage, den gevangen opstonds vastgehouden en vanuijt den kelder bij zijn lijfheer in huijs gebragt had, alwaar denselven vastgemaakt, na Stellenbosch gestransporteerd, en dus in handen van justitie overgeleevert geworden was.
Maar nademaal diergelijke gedoente, in een land alwaar regt ende geregtigheijd gehandhaaft word, geensins ongestraft gelaaten werden kan, maar andere zulke fielten, ten voorbeelde en afschrik, na bevinding van zaken gepunieert werden moet.
Soo is ’t, dat den edelachtbaare Raad van Justitie, voormeld, ten dage dienende, met nadruk geleesen en overwogen hebbende, den schriftelijken crimineelen eijsch en conclusie, door den landdrost van Stellenbosch en Drakensteijn, d’ edele Olof Godlieb de Wet, nomine officii, op ende jeegens den gevangen gedaan en genoomen, mitsgaders geleth op des gevangens vrijwillige confessie, zoo wel als op ’tgeene ter zaake verder dienende was en haar edelagtbaarens konde moveeren, regt doende uijt naame ende van wegens de hoogmoogende Heeren Staaten Generaal der Vereenigde Neederlanden, den gevangen Ontong van Boegies hebben gecondemneert, gelijk haar edelagtbaarens denzelven condemneeren mits deezen: omme ter ordinaire justitie plaats gebragt te werden, aldaar den scherpregter overgeleevert, met de strop om de hals onder de galg ten pronk gesteld, voorts aan een paal gebonden, met roeden op de bloote rugge strengelijk gegeeselt, daarop gebrandmerkt en vervolgens in de ketting geklonken zijnde, daarin den tijd zijn ’s leevens op Robben Eijland aan ’s edele Compagnies gemeene werken te arbeijden; met condemnatie in de kosten en misen van justitie; en ontzegging van den anders gedaanen eijsch van den Officier.
Aldus gedaan en gesententieerd in ’t Casteel de Goede Hoop den 6e Maij 1779, mitsgaders gepronuntieerd ende geëxecuteerd den 15e daaraanvolgende.
Fiat Executie, [get.] Jm. van Plettenberg.
[get.] P. Hacker, A. van Schoor, L.C. Warneck, T.C. Rönnekamp, P.L. le Suëur, Gs. Hk. Cruijwagen, S. v. Echten, C.G. Maasdorp, G.H. Meijer.
Mij present, [get.] C.L. Neethling, secretaris.