1791 Baatjoe
This case of theft of paper money is revealing of the many trading transactions undertaken by slaves in and around Cape Town and the network of links which existed between them, despite belonging to different owners who lived far apart from each other. It is a striking example of what records such as this can reveal about the way some slaves were able to lead lives of their own, ways which went largely unnoticed in traveller accounts or in the official accounts of the colony.
Ships in Table Bay were an important source of petty trading goods which were not widely available at the Cape. These ranged from the silk kerchief which so delighted Rosetta to second-hand blankets – after a lengthy sea voyage these could not have been in a very good condition but were nonetheless clearly valued in the Cape Town informal trading network.
1/STB 3/12 Criminele Verklaringen, 1786-1793, unpaginated.
Statement, given in the presence of the undersigned deputised heemradenheemradenThe origin of this word is uncertain, but is connected to the Dutch words heem (‘homestead’) and raad (‘councillor’). This was the title of a free burgher who served on the Collegie van Heemraden in the rural districts of the Cape, usually for a term of two years. and on the requisition of landdrost here, the honourable koopmankoopmanThe 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. Koopman, literally meaning ‘merchant,’ was a rank in the third category, senior to onderkoopman (‘junior merchant’), but below an opperkoopman (‘chief merchant’). Hendrik Lodewijk Bletterman, by Rosetta van de Caab, 24 years old at a guess, bondswoman of the former first chief surgeon of this government, the honourable Pieter Domus, which goes as follows:
That her husband, who is a slave of the burgher Pieter Lens, living at the Cape, and named Baatjoe, who now and then gets aboard the ships in the roadsteads there, gave to the testifier some half worn-out [ship’s] blankets in order to sell them here. On a certain Wednesday, at the beginning of the just-passed month of May, 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. of the burgher Hermanus Combrink, named Sangoor, came to the testifier, while she was in front of the residence of her owner, to buy one of these blankets, and handed over to the testifier a piece of paper money which he claimed to be five rixdollars, while adding that the testifier must pay out to him the change above the 14 schellingen which the said blankets [sic] would cost. The testifier, since she was not very sure of the value of the note, answered the said slave Sangoor that she first needed to find out how much it was [worth] and that she would then pay out the rest to him.1
That when the testifier was sent that very same day by her mistress to the widow Ginsenberg to enquire if she had bananas for sale, she on this occasion requested a little slave 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.’ of the said widow Ginsenberg, named Jamila, to go and show the aforementioned piece of money to the former messenger of the court Faustman,2 who lived next door, and to ask him the value of it, with the aim to afterwards let this little 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.’, who was ready to depart and go to the honourable Ackerman, buy her some silk kerchiefs somewhere else. This little 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.’ then indeed went to Faustman and when she came back a moment thereafter, she told the testifier that Faustman did not want to return the aforementioned piece of money and had said to her that it must have been stolen, which is when the testifier went to Faustman herself in order to convince him of the contrary and to ask back the aforementioned piece of money; he then also said to her that it must have been stolen and for this reason he would send it to the honourable landdrost.
That thereupon the testifier went home and told all of the aforegoing to her owner, as also that what she was being accused of was absolutely untrue; to which he simply answered her that he did not wish to interfere with this, but that she herself could go to the landdrost to avow her innocence; as the testifier then indeed went there at once, when she, on his honour’s question of where she had obtained that money, came to answer, because of fear and ignorance, that she had got it from her aforementioned husband, which she now regrets having said, as she did not receive it from her husband but, as attested above, from the slave Sangoor.
There being nothing further to relate, the testifier asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of her statement as in the text, declaring this to be the whole truth.
Thus related at the office of the secretary in Stellenbosch on 10 June 1791.
This mark X was set down by the testifier Rosetta with her own hand.
As delegates, [signed] P.G. Wium, C. Joël Ackerman.
With my cognisance, [signed] J.P. Faure, secretary.
1/STB 3/12 Criminele Verklaringen, 1786-1793, unpaginated.
There appears before the undersigned deputised heemradenheemradenThe origin of this word is uncertain, but is connected to the Dutch words heem (‘homestead’) and raad (‘councillor’). This was the title of a free burgher who served on the Collegie van Heemraden in the rural districts of the Cape, usually for a term of two years., the honourables Pieter Gerhard Wium and Christman Joël Ackerman, Sangoor van Macassar, 20 years old at a guess, bondsman of the burgher Hermanus Combrink, who on the requisition of the landdrost here, the honourable koopmankoopmanThe 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. Koopman, literally meaning ‘merchant,’ was a rank in the third category, senior to onderkoopman (‘junior merchant’), but below an opperkoopman (‘chief merchant’). Hendrik Lodewijk Bletterman, declares it to be true:
That some time ago, without being able to determine the correct day, a fellow slave of his owner, named Baatjoe, handed over to the deponent a piece of paper money which he said was five rixdollars, with the request to buy a blanket with it from the African3 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.’ of the honourable Domus,4 whom the deponent does not know by name. And since he was just then going past the residence of the said honourable Domus on his way to fetch wood in the veld, he found the said woman slave there, which is when the deponent handed over the aforesaid piece of money, while saying that Baatjoe had sent him to buy blankets. The said slave accepted the piece of money and only told the deponent that she had no time to speak to him, whereupon she immediately went into the house.
There being nothing further to relate, the deponent asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of his statement as in the text, declaring this to be the whole truth.
Thus recorded at the office of the secretary in Stellenbosch on 10 June 1791.
This mark X was set down by the deponent with his own hand.
For the interpretation:
This mark X was set down by the caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. Meij, as interpreter, with his own hand.
As delegates, [signed] P.G. Wium, C. Joël Ackerman.
In my presence, [signed] J.P. Faure, secretary.
Footnotes
-
Paper money was new at the Cape, only becoming fully legal in 1782, Kaapse Plakkaatboek III: 134-36 (30 April 1782). See 1785 Spadilje van Siam and 1786 October van Madagascar et al. for other references. ↩
-
George Ernest Faustman became the messenger of the Stellenbosch landdrost in 1786 and died there the year after this case (Hoge 1946: 94). ↩
-
This did not have a racial connotation: Rosetta was ‘van de Caab’. By the 1790s, the word ‘African’ was being used to describe both slaves and settlers who were born at the Cape: by the late eighteenth century there was a growing creolised slave population. It is noteworthy that a slave who was not from the Cape noticed and described Rosetta in this way, perhaps an indication of the existence of different ethnic identities amongst slaves (compare 1763 Christina Strang, n. 6). ↩
-
Domus had been chief surgeon at the Cape until his retirement in 1787 (Leibbrandt 1905: 399 and 403-4). ↩
Relaas gegeeven, ten overstaan van de ondergeteekende gecomitteerde heemraden, ende ter requisitie van den koopman en landdrost alhier, de heer Hendrik Lodewijk Bletterman, door ende van wegens Rosetta van de Caab, oud na gissing vier en twintig jaren, lijfeige [sic] van den oud eerste oppermeester deeses gouvernements, de heer Pieter Domus, luijdende hetselven als volgt:
Dat den relatantes man, zijnde een slaav van den, aan de Cabo wonenden, burger Pieter Lens, en genaamt Baatjoe, die wel nu en dan aan boord der aldaar ter rheede leggende scheepenvaart, aan de relatante gegeeven hebbende eenige halfsleeten combaarsen om deselve alhier te verkopen. Op zeekeren Woensdag, in het begin der laatst gepasseerde maand Maij, den slaven jongen van den burger Hermanus Combrink, Sangoor genaamt, bij de relatante, terwijl zij zig voor het woonhuijs van haren lijfheer bevond, was gekomen om een dier combaarsen te kopen, denwelken aan de relatante overhandigd hebbende een stuk papiere geld, die hij zeijde vijf rijxdaalders te weesen, met bijvoeging dat de relatante hem het meerder bedragen als veerthien schellingen dien de genoemde combaarsen zouden gelden, moeste uitkeeren, de relatante, vermits de waarde daarvan niet wel wiste, gemelde slaaf Sangoor ten antwoord had gegeeven, eerst te zullen verneemen hoe veel het was en hem dan de rest te zullen uitkeren.
Dat de relatante door haare lijfvrouwe dien eigenste dag gesonden zijnde na de weduwe Ginsenberg om te verneemen of aldaar pisangs te koop waren, bij dien gelegenheid een slave meijsje van gemelde weduwe Ginsenberg, Jamila genaamt, had versogt om voornoemde stuk geld aan den, daar naast wonenden, geweesen bode Faustman, te willen vertonen en hem de waarde daarvan te vragen, met oogmerk om vervolgens door dat meijsje, die gereed stond uit en na de edele Ackerman te gaan, elders zijde neusdoeken voor haar te laten kopen; welk meijsje dan ook na Faustman gegaan en, een ogenblik daarna terug gekeerd zijnde, aan de relatante was komen te zeggen dat Faustman voornoemde stuk geld niet weder willende afgeeven, haar had gezegd hetselve gestolen te zijn, wanneer de relatante zelfs na Faustman gegaan zijnde om hem van het tegendeel te overtuijgen en meergemelde stuk geld hem af te vragen, denselven haar relatante insgelijks had toegevoegd, hetselve gestolen te zijn, en uit dien hoovde aan den heer landdrost te zullen zenden.
Dat de relatante daarop zig naar huijs begeeven en haar lijfheer al het vorenstaande verhaald hebbende, alsmeede ook dat hetgeene waarmeede zij beschuldigd wierd, volstrekte onwaarheid was; denselven haar eenelijk ten antwoord had gegeven dat zig daar meede niet wilde bemoeijen, maar zij zelfs na den heer landdrost konde gaan om haar onschuld te bekennen, zo als de relatante dan ook aanstonds daar heen gegaan zijnde, op de vrage van zijn edele waar zij aan dat geld kwam, uit vreese en onnozelheijd was komen te antwoorden dat zij het van haren bovengenoemde man had gekreegen, hetgeen haar relatant thans spijt, gezegd te hebben, also zij het niet van denselven haren man maar, gelijk hiervoren deposeert, van den slaaf Sangoor had ontfangen.
Niets meer relateerende, geevt den relatante voor reedenen van wetenschap als in den text, betuijgende zulx den zuivere waarheid te zijn.
Aldus gerelateerd ter secretarije aan Stellenbosch, den 10e Junij 1791.
Dit kruijsmerk X is door de relatante Rosetta eigenhandig gesteld.
Als gecommitteerdens , [get.] P.G. Wium, C. Joël Ackerman.
Mij present, [get.] J.P. Faure, secretaris.
1/STB 3/12 Criminele Verklaringen, 1786-1793, unpaginated.
Compareerde voor de ondergeteekende gecommitteerde heemraden, d’ edele Pieter Gerhard Wium en Christman Joël Ackerman, Sangoor van Macasser, oud na gissing twintig jaren, lijfeigen van den burger Hermanus Combrink, denwelken, ter requisitie van den koopman en landdrost, de heer Hendrik Lodewijk Bletterman, verklaarde hoe waar is:
Dat den meede slaaf van des comparants lijfheer, Baatjoe genaamd, voor eenigen tijd geleeden, zonder den juisten dag te kunnen bepalen, aan den comparant inhandigd hebbende een stuk papiere geld, die hij zeijde vijf rijxdaalders te weesen, met verzoek van bij de Africaanse 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.’ van de heer Domus, [onleesbaar] comparant bij naame niet kend, daarvoor een combaars te willen kopen, den comparant, juist voorbij het woonhuijs van gemelde heer Domus na het veld gaande om hout te halen, gemelde slave slavinne [sic] aldaar had aangetroffen, wanneer den comparant voorseijde stuk geld deselve overgegeeven hebbende, met te zeggen dat Baatjoe hem zond om combaarsen te kopen, gemelde slavinne dat stuk geld had aangenoomen en hem comparant alleen gezegd hebbende dat zij geen tijd had met hem te spreeken, daarop aanstonds in het huijs was gegaan.
Niets meer verklarende, geeft den comparant voor reedenen van wetenschap als in den text, betuijgende zulx den zuivere waarheid te zijn.
Dat aldus passeerde ter secretarije aan Stellenbosch, den 10e Junij 1791.
Dit kruismerk X is door den comparant eigenhandig gesteld.
Voor de vertolking:
Dit kruismerk X is door den kaffer Meij, als tolk, eigenhandig gesteld.
Als gecommitteerdens , [get.] P.G. Wium, C. Joël Ackerman.
Mij present, [get.] J.P. Faure, secretaris.