A commando against the San in the Beaufort district: thirty people shot

before 1823-07-02 · regional · Beaufort West

On 2 July 1823 George Thompson left Beaufort for the Great Karoo in a horse waggon with three farmers of the district. One of them told him that he had lately been out on a commando against the San (Thompson's 'Bushmen') in which thirty people were shot: twenty-six men, two women and two children. Thompson calls it truly shocking and notes that the killing John Barrow had condemned thirty years before was still going on under British rule. What the record does not give: the farmer's name, the date and place of the commando, or who led it. It was told within the Beaufort district, whose farmers were Thompson's companions; one of the three was Botha of Jakhal's-Fonteyn on the Dwyka (LEAD-0350), but the passage does not say which man spoke. The date is BEFORE 2 July 1823 and recent, which is all the text supports. A single traveller's report of a conversation, not an official return: the commando reports of the Beaufort landdrost for 1822-1823 would be where to confirm it. [SRC-635, vol. I p. 273]

Sources

• George Thompson, Travels and Adventures in Southern Africa, 2 vols (London: Henry Colburn, 1827) - Jakhal's-Fonteyn on the Dwyka, 4 July 1823 Vol. I, printed pages 274-275 (running head DWYKA RIVER) for the entry of 4 July 1823; p. 275-276 the Cango Caves Botha of 1822; p. 282 the return from Jakhals-Fonteyn; vol. I p. 264-265 the springbok migration in the Nieuwveld, June 1823; vol. I p. 272 Beaufort village; vol. I p. 273 the commando (EVT-000327); vol. II pp. 118-121 a wedding party's 'vrolykheid', 1822; vol. II pp. 152-158 a quoted account of land grants and 'request' places; vol. II pp. 208-209 farm taxes in Uitenhage; vol. II p. 383 De Clercq and the lion (LEAD-0351)