COASTAL SHIPPING AND THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE

SOUTHERN CAPE
DrA.L. Multer
Department of &onomics, University of Port Elizabeth

During the Dutch EastIndia Company'srule, the economicpotential of the regioneastof the Hottentots-HollandMountains
remained largely untapped. By 1795there were only two small villages in this vastarea: Swellendamand Graaff-Reinet,
the latter containing only about a dozenhouses.!Two factors, in particular, were retarding economicprogress:the lack
of local markets for agricultural produce and the distancefrom the market in CapeTown.

ECONOMIC CONDmONS IN mE SWELLENDAM tween Cape Town and Graaff-Reinet, travellers usually spent
DISTRICT a day or two there, particularly as their wagons commonly
needed repairs.6 As a result the village's blacksmiths and
Eventhough Swellendamwas closestto the Cape market, wainwrights were among the most prosperous of the resi-
mostof the inhabitantsof the district were,by the beginning dents. 7 Elsewhere in the district some residents were also
of the nineteenthcentury, still only tenuouslylinked to the able to sell bread, grain, wine, brandy and other produce
money-economy.Under favourableconditions the journey
betweenCapeTownand the villageof Swellendaminvolved
a travelling time by ox-wagonof as little as sixty hours;2 1 In the Western Cape the only major settlements were Stellenbosch
however,after this journey the wagonswould commonly and Cape Town. Stellenbosch had about 70 houses. Cape Town, with about
alreadyrequire extensiverepairsasthey wereoften' 'shaken 1 000 houses, had a total population of about 15 500 (5 500 Whites and
to pieces" by the uneventerrain.3The rapid depreciation 10 000 Blacks). According to the censusof 1798, the Colony's total popula-
tion of 61 947 included 21 746 Whites, the slaves, and 14 447 Khoikhoi.
of the relativelyexpensiveox-wagonaswell asthe frequent The Colony comprised an area of about 110 000 square mile (280 000
lossof draught animalsweretwo major factorsresponsible kin').
for high costsof overland transponation, which restricted 2 W.). DE KOCK (ed.), Reize in de binnen-landen van Zuid-Afrika
the marketing of agricultural produceto relativelyvaluable gedaan in denjaare 1803 door W.B.E. Paravicini di Capelli (Cape Town,
1965), p. 15.
commodities suchas butter, soapand timber. Grain and 3 Ibt"d., p. 223.
other bulky, low-priced productscould not be marketed at 4 W. BLOMMAERTand).A. WIlD (eds.), Diejoernaal van Dirk Gysbert
a profit if they wereproducedbeyonda radiusof about 100 van Reenen, 1803 (Cape Town, 1937), p. 273; S.D. NEUMARK.Economic
kilometres from the Cape.4 influences on the South AfiJCanfrontier, 1652-1836 (Stanford, 1957), p. 34.
~ R. PERCIVAL, An account of the Cape of Good Hope (New York,
The village of Swellendamwasa smallcommercialcentre
1969), p. 198.
consistingof 20 to 30 houses,~whoseresidentsmade a liv- 6 Cf. H. LICHTENSTEIN.
Travels in Southern Africa in the years 1803,
ing mainly by trading with the travellerswho passedthrough 1804, 1805 and 1806, I (London, 1812), p. 201.
the town. As it wasthe only village on the main road be- 7 Ibid

10 CONTREE18
 to travellersto and from the interior.8 In general,however, to enlarge their output.19 During the first British occupa-
Swellendamwastoo far from Cape Town to allow its resi- tion, poor harvests at the Cape again led the government
dentsto market their products on a regular basis;9conse- to encourage grain production at Mossel Bay and in 1800
quently it could "only serveas an intermediate centre for it shipped 3 000 muids of wheat and barley (approximately
the administrationof the colonyand as an abodefor those 300 tons) from Mossel Bay to Cape Town.2OBut this was
who wished to have little to do with other monals".IO apparently once more an isolated event. When GeneralJ.W.
This wasevenmore true in the caseof the Graaff-Reinet Janssensvisited the area in 1803, he found that the granary
district whose additional distance from the Cape market was unused and in a dilapidated state.21
meant that opponunities for participating in the market
economyweregenerallyevenmore limited, so that residents
were typically evenmore self-sufficient than they were at PLE1TENBERG BAY
Swellendamll
In 1788 the Company also decided to establish a harbour
at Plettenberg Bay (which was named after Governor J .A.
van Plettenberg, who visited it in 1778). A magazine was
erected where timber could be stored prior to shipment,22
and allotments of land were made to some private wood-
cutters who undertook to cut and sell the timber to the
Company at fixed prices.23The first shipment of timber,
which was to be used by the Company for building pur-
poses, wagon-making, gun carriages and furniture,24 left
the port in 1788. However, during the Company's rule this
coasting trade in timber, which remained in the Comp~y's
hands, never assumed significant proportions and nothing
else was shipped from Plettenberg Bay.2~ Foreign ships
sometimes called at Plettenberg Bay because of the avail-
The village ofSwellendamin 1795. ability of cheap provisions, water, and timber but the Com-
pany discouraged this practice as it reduced its earnings from
fees and provisions at the Cape.26The opening of the port
therefore did little to stimulate the economic development
The possibility of reducing transport costsby introducing of the region.
a coasting trade was often raised by visitors from countries The situation towards the end of the Company's rule was
where shipping formed an important element of the local therefore that the coasting trade was limited to occasional
transportation system. Thus, in the 1770sAnders Sparrman shipments of wheat and timber from Mossel Bay and Plet-
advocated the establishment of harbours at Mossel Bay and
elsewhere along the eastern coast.\2This possibility had, in
fact, been investigated by GovernorJan de la Fontaine and
a party of officials when they visited Mossel Bay in 1734,
but they had gained a poor impression of its capabilities 8 BLOMMAERT and WilD (eds.), op. cit., p. 31.
9 DE KOCK (ed.), op. cit., p. 15.
as a harbour .13 10 Ibid., p. 223.
II a. R. ELPHICKandH. GilloMEE(eds.), The shaPing of South Afiican
society (Cape Town, 1978), pp. 68-70.
12 V.S. FORBES(ed.), Anders Spamnan: A voyage to the Cape of Good
mE MOSSELBAY HARBOUR Hope towards the Antarctic polar circle round the world and to the country
of the Hottentotj' and the Ca/fresfrom the year 1772-1776, I (Cape Town,
Towardsthe end of the eighteenth centuryfarmers in the 1975), p. 249.
13 G.M. THEAL.History of South Afiica4 (Cape Town, 1964), p. 31.
Swellendam district, in the viciniry of MosselBay, had 14E. BERGH.Memorie over de Kaap de Goede Hoop, in G.M. THEM.
achievedgood resultswith the productionof wheatfor their Belangrijke historische dokumenten over Zuid-Afiika 3 (London, 1911),
ownuse. Only the costof overlandtransponationprecluded p.37.
the marketing of wheat.14In an effon to procure more 15 The granary measured 150 feet (46m) by 20 feet (6m) and was 13
wheatfor the localand expon markets,the Dutch EastIndia feet (4m) high and it cost 14000 guilders. See C.G. BOTHA. Collected
works 1 : General history and socia/life of the Cape of Good Hope (Cape
Company decided in 1786 to have a granary erected at
Town,T 1962), p. 299.
.
MosselBay, where wheat would be bought from farmers 16
HEAL.op. Clt., p. 23 5.
and stored until it could be shipped by sea from Mossel 17 See BaTHA. op. cit., p. 298.
Bay.15The first cargoof wheatwas accordinglyshipped at 18 This seems to be borne out by the fact that in the ten-year period

this pon in 1788, when a Companyvesselwas laden with ending in July 1791, the Company derived a revenue of £855 from "freight
and insurance from Mossel Bay". THEAL.op. cit., p. 249.
wheatbound for Batavia.16 The colonistswere still not per- 19 BLOMMAERT and WIDD (eds.), op. cit., p. 55.
mitted to expon wheat themselves,17 but from this time 20 H.B. GillOMEE.Die Kaap tydens die eerste Britse bewina; 179.5-1803
they apparentlybeganto usethe Company'svesselsto ship (Cape Town, 1975), pp. 140 and 186.
other productsfrom MosselBay to CapeTown. 18Thus the 21 BLoMMAERTandWilD (eds.), op. cit., p. 55. Janssens decided at the

opening of MosselBayasa pon held the promiseof stimu- time to have the granary repaired and to reintroduce the coasting trade
in wheat as well as timber.
lating agricultural developmentand aiding the transforma- 22a. THEAL.op. cit., p. 236. The wooden magazine measured 200 feet
tion from subsistenceto commercialfarming. (60m) by 22 feet (6,6m) and was 13 feet (4m) high. SeeBOTHA.op. cit.,
However,this hope wasnot fulfilled. Forassoonassuffi- p.300.
23 BaTHA. op. cit., p. 299.
cient grainwasagainharvestednearthe Cape,the Company 24 Ibid.
stopped the procurementof wheat in MosselBay, even 25 THEAL.op. cit., p. 236. Some farmers in the region offered to sell
though the localfarmershad undenakenconsiderablecapi- aloes to the Company at the port, but the Company was not interested.
tal investment in slaves,wagonsand implements in order 26 PERCIVAL.op. cit., p. 202

CON1REE 18

11
ten berg Bay and that this was done in the Company's own was navigable' 'up to six hours inland, and there are excel-
vesselsas and when it deemed it necessary.Private enterprise lent, safe landing-places for small vessels along either
was only allowed to enter this field in 1792 as a result of bank".31
recommendations made by the Commissioners S.C. Neder- In 1803 Governor Janssens also inspected the river and
burgh and S.H. Frykenius. They granted various liberties was given a similar opinion by D.G. van Reenenwho accom-
to the colonists, including the right to establish whale fishe- panied him (and who had a farm near by): "I do not doubt
ries and restricted rights to engage in the coasting trade and that if this shipping trade were established, a considerable
export their produce to Dutch possessionsin the East from number of inhabitants would prosper by it ...it is only
the ports of Cape Town, Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay the expenseconnected with the transport of produce to the
(provided the ships were built in Holland).27 A few colo- Cape that impoverishes the local inhabitants. ..[it] is the
nists made use of these new opponunities.28 most difficult problem with which the farmer has to con-
A company formed by O. G. de Wet bought a small vessel tend, taking into consideration the distance of the farms
from the Company for 15 000 guilders; it was soon lost in and the bad state of the roads along which everything has
a storm. J.J. Vos acquired a ship for the coasting trade and to be carted." 32
also made voyagesto the East, but the ship was subsequendy It is interesting that Van Reenen himself was not willing
captured by British men-of-war. Three Van Reenens had to initiate such a venture, even though it was probably well
a small vesselwhich traded with St Helena and elsewhere. within his means. He, as well as most colonists, appeared
However, these shipping activities were conducted on a very to have thought that the government should take the lead.
small scale and were, in any event, largely eliminated in Thus W.B.E. Paravicini di Capelli, who accompanied him,
1795 when heavily-armed British cruisers found the Cape felt that a shipping service would have to be undertaken
vesselsan easy prey.29 Overall, the private coasting trade by the government because the farmers themselves were
therefore had litde effect on economic development before "too indifferent" to promote it ("de proefneming tot deeze
1795. Had the concessionsbeen introduced earlier, the eco- verbeetering zal door het gouvernement dienen te geschie-
nomic history of South Africa might have been significandy den, want helaas! de landbewoonder is te onverschillig").33
different.

BENJAMIN MOODIE AT PORT BEAUFORT

DEVELOPMENTS AFTER 1795
Nothing more was done, however, until 1816, when Lord
The abolition of most of the Dutch East India Company's Charles Somersethad the river re-examined and it was found
restrictions on internal trade in 1795 provided an atmos- that small vesselscould enter from the sea in fine weather
phere conducive to growth; but it could not alleviate the and that, above the bar, the river was navigable for 50 kilo-
physical restraints on trade imposed by the Colony's geo- metres by ships drawing less than two metres of water. 34
graphy. Some farsighted individuals therefore continued to Convinced that a harbour would come into existence there,
stressthe desirability of introducing a coasting trade between Somersetnamed the east bank of the mouth Port Beaufort
Cape Town and various suitable places along the eastern (after his father, the Duke of Beaufort). In the very next
coastline. year (1817) the Scottish colonizer, Benjamin Moodie, in
About 1801 Roben Percival made a perceptive analysis partnership with Cape merchants, started a coasting trade
of the influence of transpon systems on economic develop- with Cape Town.35 Moodie, who had settled at Swellen-
ment. The Colony possessedmany natural advantages, he dam in view of the commercial opportunities which would
argued; yet (in his own words) it had remained' 'unproduc- be presented if coasterscould be induced to call at nearby
tive. ..feeble and impotent" becausepeople in the inte- Port Beaufort,36 found it difficult to persuade Cape ship-
rior were "bigoted" in their ways. Percival concluded that pers to make regular calls at a port which did not have any
". ..butter, corn, wine and other anicles of husbandry facilities. However, by 1820 a warehouse had been built on
become incalculably dearer in Cape Town by being conveyed the river bank from where ships departed with cargoes of
in waggons instead of being put on board. ..coasting wheat and other produce, returning with general merchan-
vesselsat the different harbours or mouths of rivers. ..If dise which was sold to the local farmers.37
the transporting of articles by water were carried into effect,
such a market would be opened for the produce of the inte-
rior that it is impossible but industry must be stimulated;
and these desened and solitary harbours might be the means
of enriching the colony beyond computation. Market towns
would soon necessarilybe erected in various ports along the
coast. ..manufacturies ...might be established in the 27 ~.. .
neighbourhood of the markets. .." 30 """"". op. Clt., pp. 270-271.
28 The following examples are derived from C.FJ. MOllER. Vyfhonderd
Such developments had, in fact, already staned and others
filar Suid-Afiikllanse geskiedenis (Pretoria, 1980), pp. 99-100.
were about to commence along the Cape coast. Through 29 Ibt"a:, p. 100. See alsoG.M. THEAL(ed.) Records of the Cilpe Colony
the efforts of a number of enterprising individuals, the Cape I (London, 1897), pp. 408-410.
30 PERavAL. op. cit., pp. 213-215.
south coastwas about to become much more closely linked
31 Quoted by E.H. BURROWS.Of/erberg outsplln. ..(Cape Town,
with the Cape market.
1952), p. 231.
32 BLOMMAERT and WilD (eds.), op. cit., p. 49.
33 DE KOCK (ed.), op cit., p. 21.
THE BREEDE RIVER 34 G.M. THEAL.History of South Afiicll 5 (Cape Town, 1964), p. 310.
3~ Ibid:; also StlJndard encydoplJediIJ of Southern AjricII2 (Cape Town,

Percival's interest in the coasting trade was shared by various 1970), p. 187.
36J. W.D. MOODIE.Ten yellrs in South AfiiCiJ I (London, 1835) p. 331.
governors of this era. In 1800 Sir George Yonge instructed Pon Beaufon was 64 kin from Swellendam.
the landdrost of Swellendam to examine the suitability of 37 BURROWS.op. ClI., p. 214. See also E.H. BURROWS.
The Moodies of
the Breede River for navigation. He reponed that the river Melsetter (Cape Town, 1954), p. 91.

12 CONTREE18
BARRY'S BUSINESSEMPIRE and farmersin that regioncould be induced to supplytim-
ber in exchangefor merchandisebrought from the Cape.
Moodie's business activities were important in that they This led him to acquire a brig for the coastingtrade with
proved the feasibility of Port Beaufort as a harbour and the MosselBayand to establisha trading storea few miles from
potential for twoway trade between Cape Town and the the Bay at the Geelbek'sRiver. By 1797he wasconducting
Swellendam district. It was on this foundation that Joseph a lively two-way trade betweenCape Town and Mossel
Barry, who arrived at the Cape in 1817, built when he began Bay.)! (In this yearand part of 1798his brig wascomman-
his trading activities in Port Beaufort in 1822 -activities ded by another Scottishimmigrant, JamesCallander,who
which soon surpassedthose of Moodie. Barry created a regu- subsequentlypromoted the useof Knysnaasa harbour.))2
lar cash market in the Overberg by buying up the farmers' Murray'stradewaslucrativeto himselfand beneficialto the
produce on the spot and shipping it to Cape Town where residentsof the region. His store, run by a residentagent,
he sold it for his own account -a system which was far was well stocked with necessities-including clothing,
more popular with farmers than Moodie's practice of selling leathergoods,implements, hardware,and ammunition-
the produce on the relatively unstable Cape Town market and was describedas a great convenienceto farmers who
on behalf of and at the risk of the producers.38 In 1823 would othetwisehavehad to obtain their requirementsin
Barry opened a store at Port Beaufort and the next year one Cape Town.)3
in Swellendam, which becamehis headquarters. By this time When General Janssensvisited Mossel Bay in 1803
he owned a brig and had an interest in at least two other Murray's small vesselwaslying in the Bay and the brig was
coasting vessels,39 and he was operating all along the coast loadedwith beamsand planks,which Murrayhad obtained
between Cape Town and Algoa Bay. Thus, in 1823, he at his trading station from farmers who came from the
shipped large quantities of grain to Algoa Bay and the Outeniqua forests.The farmerswere' 'not quite satisfied"
Kowie; on their return voyages his ships brought "sundry with the pricespaid for their timber, asMurraywasthe only
articles of trade" to Port Beaufort or conveyed troops and merchantin the region,and "he did not pay them for their
cargoes of timber and salt to Cape Town.4OHe also traded products in proportion to the value he received for his
with St Helena at that time.41 goods.")4 Nevertheless,they traded there becausethey
By 1825 Moodie's shipping activities had been almost were betteroff than theywould have beenif they had gone
entirely eclipsed by those of Barry since the landdrost of to the Cape themselves.Furthermore, Murray's shipping
Swellendam stated that "the keeping up of a permanent enterprisewas subject to high risks of heavy losses,risks
navigation must be attributed entirely to Mr. Barry whose which would only be worth taking if the potential profits
exertions have been indefatigable, and the capital employed werecommensurate.Indeed, a few yearslater Murray lost
by him very large".42 two vesselswithin a very short time on the Agulhas reef.))
As a result of these developments and particularly of In any event such monopoly profits as were to be had
Barry's efforts,43the Swellendam region obtained a regular at the time soondisappearedowing to increasingcompeti-
market not only for its grain (it subsequently became one tion in the coastingtrade, sinceother Capemerchant-ship-
of the major grain-producing regions in South Africa) but pers also beganto call at MosselBay.)6
also for a variety of other agricultUral produce,44 many of
which had previously been virtually unmarketable. Owing
largely to Barry's encouragement, the area's wool production
also increased rapidly.4~
38 A.P. BuIRSKI. The Barrys and the Overberg (M.A., University of
The positive responseof farmers to the new opportunities
Stellenbosch, 1952), p. 111.
for marketing their produce proved' 'the absurdity of taxing 39 Ibi~, p. 33.
the Dutch farmers with indolence when the principle of self- 40 Ibid., pp. 34-35.
interest. ..had no scope for being brought into 41 Ibi~
action. "46 42 Quoted by BUIRSKI.op. cit., pp. 112-113.
43 D.). VAN ZYL. Die geskiedenis van die graanbou aan die Kaap,
Archives Year Book. for South Afiican History 31(1), 1968, p. 261.
44 Including hides, skins, horns, aloes, fruit, raisins, tobacco, ostrich
feathers, butter, tallow, beans, peas, canary seed, and potatoes. See
JOHN MURRAY AT MOSSELBAY
BUIRSKI.op. cit., p. 84.
4) BURROWS.Overberg outspan, p. 107.
One of the main pioneers of the coasting trade and the 46 MOODIE.op. cit., p. 332.
47 Murray was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1749 and died at the
founder of Mossel Bay as a commercial centre was John
CaEe in 1815. Cf. editor's note in DE KOCK (ed.), op. cit., p. 30.
Murray, a Scotsmanwho settled at the Cape during the first 8 THEAL. History of South Afiica 5, p. 211.
British occupation.47 At the Cape he soon acquired sub- 49 P. STORRAR. Portrait ofPlettenberg Bay (Cape Town, 1978), p. 76.
stantial interests in whaling, trading, and shipping. In 1798 )0 Dictionary of South Afiican biography III (Cape Town, 1977), p.
he bought the assets of the whale fishery belonging to 646. The whaling station on Robben Island was still in operation in 1820.
Messrs.Fehrsen & Co. (which had been established in 1789) THEAL. History of South Afiica 5, p. 340.
)1 P. STORRAR. George Rex: death of a legend Oohannesburg, 1974),
and under Murray's management the enterprise flourished
p. 105.
in the next few years.48During the first British occupation )2 Callander (or Callendar) was an entrepreneur in his own right. He
the firm's whaling activities extended as far as Algoa Bay, carne to the Cape in 1797 after an adventurous life, first as a sailor in the
Plettenberg Bay, and Mossel Bay (with catches of up to 30 serviceof the British EastIndia Company and then as a private shipowner; he
lost all his ships through a series of misfortunes. Cf. THEAL. History of
whales recorded in a season at Mossel Bay), although no
South Afiica 5, p. 312; GILIOMEE.op. cit., p. 197; BLOMMAERT and WIlD
whale fisheries were established on shore at these places.49 (eds.), op cit., pp. 65-67; STORRAR. George Rex:. .., p. 105.
After 1806 he also established a whale fishery on Robben )3 DE KOCK (ed.), op. cit., p. 30, and1lCHTENsTEIN.Op. cit., p. 224.
Island which produced whale oil and bone for export to )4 BLoMMAERTandWIID(eds.), op. cit., p. 57.
)) 11 .
London.~o CHTENSTEIN. op. Clt., p. 225.
)6 Thus in 1799 the firm of Onkruidt & Co. had a ship for the coasting
Soon after his arrival Murray become interested in the trade with Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay; it took merchandise to the
possibility of shipping timber from the forestsof Outeniqua- colonists and rcrumed to the Cape with cargoesof soap, butter, and timber.
land to the Cape. He also perceived that the woodcutters GILIOMEE.op. cit., pp. 201-202.

CON1REE 18 13
 Murray may also have shipped grain from Mossel Bay to
Cape Town.~7 This was a trade that was initiated by the
Company in 1788 but which was conducted so sporadically
by subsequent governments that it probably had little in-
fluence on the commercialisation of agriculture before
1820.~8 About that year, however, the government re-
sumed purchases of grain at Mossel Bay and shipped it in
a small coasting brig. ~9At the time Mossel Bay was still in
its infancy as "only two dwelling houses have as yet been
built here; that of the governor resident. ..and another
occupied by an agent for a mercantile house at the Cape,
who has stores of various kinds to sell to the farmers of the
neighbourhood.' '60The town of Mossel Bay was only offi- The 5..5. KADIE, seenhere off Port Beaufort, wasbuilt in 1858and its
run was regularlybetween Malagasand Cape Town.
cially founded in 1848.
PHOTOGRAPH CAPE ARCHIVES DEPOT (M776)

ment that ships would be able to enter the lagoon through

DISAPPOINTMENTS AT PLETTENBERGBAY the entrance between the rocky headlands.68
The major supplier of timber after 1804 was George
As in the case of Mossel Bay, the initial development of
Rex69,who settled at the Knysna lagoon that year, after
Knysna and Plettenberg Bay was due to a combination of
retiririg with ample means at his disposal7ofrom a lucrative
private and government enterprise. At Plettenberg Bay the
office71 he had held during the first British occupation.
Company's experiment of shipping timber to the Cape was Rex was personally acquainted with John Murray as well as
not a success. It involved such heavy expenses that it was
with James Callander, both of whom probably influenced
discontinued when the Council of Policy concluded' 'that
the direction of Rex's subsequent economic activi~ies. At
to continue this method would be most detrimental to their
interests.' '61 first he exponed timber through Plettenberg Bay but he
soon became a fervent advocate of the us~ of Knysna as a
In 1803 GeneralJanssensfound that the timber magazine
pon.72 Not only was it time-consuming and expensive to
had become totally unserviceable and recommended that
transpon timber to Plettenberg Bay but the anchorage itself
a new one be constructed. He also gave instructions that
was not safe because of its exposure to easterly winds.
samples of stinkwood and other species of timber in the Knysna, on the other hand, offered to be a more secure
forest be cut and sent to Amsterdam (from Cape Town) to
harbour where the handling of cargo would also be easier.
ascenain whether there was a demand for any of the
Rex's efforts had some successwhen, in 1808, the govern-
timber.62 However, these and other efforts to increase the ment sent a brig to experiment whether a ship co\lld enter
trade in timber from Plettenberg Bay failed to have a mate-
the Knysna lagoon from the sea. However, owing to rough
rial effect on the living conditions of the colonists in the
seasthe vesselabondoned the attempt and instead made
area,so that conditions remained much as Barrow had found for Plettenberg Bay, where it took in some timber. 73For
them in 1797: "Injustice. ..to the farmers of Plett enberg
Bay district, it ought to be stated that they are the only class
of people, in the whole colony, which deservesthe name
of being industrious. To fell the large trees. ..and then
~7 Cf. l"bid, p. 186.
to drag them out, is a work of labour and toil; and their ~8 In 1806 lichtenstein noted that following Governor Janssens' visit
profits are so trifling, that few of them are enabled to in 1803, the grain magazine had been repaired but that the shipping of
purchase slaves, and of course are reduced to the necessity gtain had not yet been resumed. See LIClffi!NSTEIN.op. cit., p. 218. In
of working themselves.' '63 1813 it was again reported that the storehouse was in bad repair and not
In 1803 a Dutch entrepreneur, G.K. van Hogendorp, being used for the purpose for which it was originally built. See THEAL
formulated a plan to establish an extensive colony of Euro- (ed.), Records of the Cape Colony 9, p. 90.
~9 ANONYMOUS.Notes on the Cape of Good Hope made during an
pean settlers at Plettenberg Bay. A modern saw-mill was excursion in the Colony in the year 1820 (London, 1821), p. 35.
to be constructed to prepare timber for exponation, Spanish 60 Ibid.
61 S.F.N. GIE (ed.), The memorandum of CommIssary l.A. de Mist,
sheepwere to be introduced for the production of wool and
the land was to be cultivated to yield various types of containing recommendations for the form and administration ofgovern'
ment at the Cape of Good Hope, 1802 (Cape Town, 1920), p. 214.
produce for export.64 However, for different reasons 62 THEAL (ed.), Records of the Cape Colony 9, p. 122. '
nothing came of this plan.65 63J. BARROW,Travels into the interior of Southern Africa I (London,
1806), p. 386.
64 Cf. THEAL(ed.) Records of the Cape Colony 9, pp. 134-135.
6~ Thus the settlers who came preferred to stay in Cape Town and most
KNYSNA'S LAGOON HARBOUR
of the implements sent from Holland were lost in shipwrecks. Cf. THEAL
(ed.), Records of the Cape Colony 9, pp. 136-137; M.W. SPILHAUS. South
At about that time events occurred which were to lead to Africa in the making, 1652-1806 (Cape Town, 1966), p. 328; STORRAR,
the establishment of a harbour at Knysna. In 1798 the Portrait of Plettenberg Blty, p. 53 et seq.
government commissioned James Callander to investigate 66 THEAL(ed.), Records of the Cape Colony 9, p. 312; GILIOMEE.op.

the forestry potential of the coastal regions between Mossel cit., p. 197.
67 BLOMMAERT and WIlD (eds.), op. cit., p. 65.
Bay and Algoa Bay. He surveyed and charted the Knysna 68 Ibid, pp. 65-67.
lagoon, was greatly impressed by its potential as a harbour, 69 Rex qualified as a lawyer in England before coming to the Cape in
and also reponed that timber suitable for shipbuilding could 1797. Cf. STORRAR, George Rex:. ..; p. 128.
70 THEAL(ed.), Records of the Cape Colony 9, p. 311.
be obtained in the Knysna forests.66 When Governor
71 Marshall of the Vice-Admiralty Court. a, THEAL (ed,), Records of
Janssensvisited the area in 1803, Callander, then living at
the Cape Colony 9, p. 311. See also C.H. PRICE,George Rex, king or
Knysna as an anchorite,67 met him and they discussed the esquire? (Cape Town, 1973), pp. 175-176,
possibility of establishing a saw-mill and harbour there. 72 STORRAR,George Rex:. .., pp. 128-129.
However, the Governor's party doubted Callander's state- 73 THEAL(ed.), Records of the Cape Colony 9, p. 312.

14 CONTREE 18
the nextnine yearsthe governmentcontinuedto obtain the a substantial increasein the welfare of the regions they
timber it neededat PlettenbergBay,74asdid private ship- served,the enterprisingRexappearsto have beenthe main
pers. beneficiaryof the new harbour, at leastduring the first years
The next attempt, in 1817,alsofailed whena brig trying of its existence.
to enter the lagoon was driven onto a submergedrock in
the entrance.7~However, a sloop-of-war, the Podargus,
which was sent to fetch the crew and storesof the brig, CONCLUSION
successfullyenteredthe lagoon. This proved the feasibility
of Knysna as a port. From that time regular shipments of After 1795coastalshippingbeganto stimulatethe develop-
timber were made at Knysna for the dockyard in Simons- ment of variousareasalong the Capesouth coastby substi-
town and occasionallyalso for dockyardsin England.76 tuting, in particular,commercialagriculturefor subsistence
In 1820 the government decided to build a ship at farming. Shippinghad variousadvantages.It brought about
Knysna, but the experiment failed becauseof damage a significantmovementtowardsgreaterspecialisation,asthe
causedby a fife and coststhat were higher than expected.77 farmerneedno longerpersonallyto obtain his requirements
The potential growth of Knysna suffered another setback of merchandisein CapeTown, or markethis producehim-
whenthe Englishdockyardsfound that Knysna timber was self; transponationand trade beganto comeinto the hands
lesssuitable for shipbuilding than the traditional oak.78 of specialistmiddlemen. As shipping wasalsoconsiderably
Nevertheless,since the growth of the coastingtrade with cheaperthan overlandtranspon,it increasedthe profitability
CapeTownwasincreasingthe governmentstationeda pilot of marketing farm produce, widened the range of goods
at Knysna in 1818. Knysna soonalso becamean interme- which could be marketed,and lengthenedthe distancesover
diate port of call betweenCapeTown and AlgoaBay. From which trade could profitably be conducted.
1817to 1839the port wasvisited by 162ships -only four Although local residentswere awareof these potential
of which came to grief there.79These developments at benefitsof coastalshipping,they generallyremainedindiffe-
Knysnasounded the death knell for PlettenbergBay asa rent, and unwilling to shoulderthe costsand risksinvolved.
Instead,the then recentimmigrants -Callander, Murray,
port.
Moodie, Barry and Rex -became the pioneerswho ex-
ploited the opponunities for profit, these opponunities
arose from linking the inhabitants and resourcesof the
REX'S ACnVITIES southernCape coastto the Capemarket. There can be no
doubt that thesepioneersrepresentedan infusion of new
At Knysna, Rex was engaged in a variety of economic activi- entrepreneurialblood which the Colony badly needed.~
ties, including agriculture, stock-breeding, trading, ship-
ping, and eventually also ship-building. His agricultural
activities included the growing of trial crops of flax, hemp,
tobacco, and silk.8OSurplus butter was exponed to Cape
Town, Algoa Bay, St Helena, and Mauritius.8! His experi-
ments in animal husbandry included the breeding of horses,
cattle, and sheep, merino sheep being imponed from
Australia to improve the local strain.82But his major source
of income was from the exportation oftimber,83 felled on
his extensive estates84or bought from local woodcutters.
For this latter purpose he opened a trading store at Pletten-
berg Baya5where he bought timber and sold general
merchandise. 86As a merchant he had a virtual monopoly
of trade within a radius of 40 kilometres.87 He also owned
various ships.
In 1826 Rex decided to have a ship, the Knysna, con-
sttucted locally. This brig of 140 tons was completed in 1831
and was used for many years to carry timber to Cape Town
and to convey general cargo between Cape Town and ports
74Ibid.
along the east coast of the Colony. In 1836, while under
7~Ibid.
charter to the government, the Knysna became the first sea- 76 Ib,d., p. 313.
going ship to use the mouth of the Buffalo River as a 77 Ib,d.
landing-place. In 1837 the site was named Pon Rex but ten 78 Ibid., p. 314.
years later Governor Sir Harry Smith changed it to East 79 STORRAR. GeorgeRex:. .., p. 129.
London. 88 80 Ibid, p. 128; Di.tionary ofSouthAftit;an biographyII (CapeTown,

Rex, the founder of Knysna, must therefore be credited 1972),p. 591.

8! STORRAR, GeorgeRex:. .., p. 129.
with being a pioneer in many respects. Through his various 82 DIctionary of South Afri.an biography II, p. 591.
enterprises he also managed to earn a very good living. Yet, 83 STORRAR. GeorgeRex:. .., p. 128.
84 He bought severalfarms in the Knysna and Plettenberg Bay area,
in the region where timber (the main resource) was even
exploited, general economic conditions remained depressed comprisingaltogethernearly 8 570 ha, in 1816. SeeTHEAL(ed.) Re.ords
of the Cape Colony 9, p. 311. At the time he also owned 22 slaves.
during that period. By 1823 woodcutters between George STORRAR. GeorgeRex:. .., p. 133.
and Knysna were still earning no more than a ,. meagre sub- 8~ STORRAR, GeorgeRex:. .., p. 134.
sistence" by taking wagon-loads of timber to Knysna or to 86 Ibi~, p. 135.
87 Ibid., p. 139.
Cape Town.89 Thompson remarked: "These woodcutters 88 Di.tionary of South Afri.an biographyII, p. 591.
are the poorest classof white people in the Colony; earning 89V.S. FoRBES(ed.), G. Thompson: Travelsand adventures,nSouth.
a livelihood with severe labour. .."90 Unlike Barry at Pon em Aftit;a I, (Cape Town, 1967),p. 5.
Beaufort or Murray at Mossel Bay whose activities brought 90Ibid.

CONTREE18 15