Forbes, James, 1749-1819, James Forbes letter, Cape of Good-Hope, 1776 February 7, copied between 1794 and 1800
- Call Number:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Cape of Good-Hope, 1776 February 7
- Date:
- copied between 1794 and 1800
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: A voyage from England to Bombay with descriptions in Asia, Africa, and South America
- Part of Collection:
- volume 9, page 9-52
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
- Scope and Content:
- Forbes now writes from the Cape of Good Hope, having left India for England in order to recover his health. He addresses the letter to “my Dear Sir,” evidently someone he knew in India, and who, it later becomes clear, had accompanied him on his initial voyage from England to Bombay (Mumbai). Forbes, perhaps, is referring to the recipient of this letter when he expresses his regret at leaving behind in India “one of the best of men, and dearest of friends!” The voyage from Bombay to South Africa is largely uneventful. One of his lengthiest passages discusses the existence of mermaids, something which “Mr. Matcham” (likely George Matcham, 1753-1833), the superintendent of the “Bombay-Marine,” had frequently insisted upon. Forbes feels “a reluctance in introducing an account of these sea-monsters, whose existence I well know is doubted by naturalist and philosophers.” Nonetheless, he does admit the recurrence of mermaids in older accounts, and summarizes Matcham’s account: he “says he has often seen these extraordinary creatures from six to fourteen feet long; the face greatly resembling the human, tho; the nose and mouth came nearer to a hog’s snout…” Forbes notes the difficulties of such a long voyage in a small vessel—the rough sea at times had the lascars, or Indian sailors, sick, leaving the four Europeans at the helm—and quotes Joseph Addison (1672-1719) on the sea, before turning his attention to the coast and population of the Cape. He describes the shore as “in general…romantic, but too savage to be called agreeable; consisting of rocky hills and mountains.” This changes as one approaches Cape Town. Forbes promises his interlocutor full details of Cape Town, “which neither of us visited in our voyage to Bombay.” He does not disappoint, providing a range of geographic and meteorological data, citing a number of English and French scholars. He observes the “grand and awful appearance” of Table Mountain, the regular layout of the town, and the numerous numbers of enslaved people present in the city. The area is densely populated: Forbes suggests that most families have up to a dozen children, but that the city has few public amusements outside of family gatherings and certain events put on by government figures. Forbes writes: “Here sobriety, transquility and matrimony are encouraged.” Cape Town, at this time, was under the control of the Dutch, though it would fall under the control of the British Empire in 1795. Forbes describes the lives of Cape Town’s white inhabitants, among whom there are “eight women to one man” as the boys are “sent to sea, to Europe, or the East Indies, to make a fortune; and seldom return to settle in their native place.” The women, however, “are trained in the paths of virtue and religion, [and] are calculated to make good wives and good mothers; no silly romances, sentimental novels, or books of levity, are put into their hands.” Forbes spends the final section of the letter describing timber production near Cape Town—or rather, the lack of it. The Dutch Company, despite nearby resources, sends wood from Holland, and numerous enslaved people are tasked by the white residents to collect firewood and other materials from areas around the city. Forbes then shifts his discussion to some of the trees themselves. He is quite taken by what he calls the Silver-Tree (likely Leucadendron argenteum), groups of which often give the appearance of “a forest of glittering silver, gently waving with the breeze.” He also writes of the Gold-Tree, whose botanical name he does not know, which he says “sometimes are like a waving glow of fire, especially in the sweet hour of prime, when all the productions of nature derive additional beauty from Sol’s enlivening beams.” He closes by mentioning the presence of Euphorbia (as in India) and a caterpillar, with which “the Hottentots make the most deadly poison for their arrows.” The next sections of Forbes sixty-first letter are organized by topic. He begins with “Farms at the Cape,” which provides information on the general productivity of the farms—the soil is rich, and produces readily—as well as descriptions of the culture and society of the planters. Forbes notes that these plantations can reach enormous sizes, and rely on hundreds of enslaved people. He provides some specifics as to the use of slave labor: “these slaves are either born at the Cape, or brought from Madagascar, India, and other places; but they are not Hottentots; who are still in some degree a free-people.” Many of the farmers live in (what Forbes sees as) isolation, “four or five days journey from the nearest white inhabitant.” He quotes James Thomson (1700-1748) to describe their style of life, though also notes that much of what they produce, such as wheat, is exported, rather than consumed by the colony. He then offers a brief discussion of the governance structure of the Dutch East India Company in the colony, reporting that people speak “with rapture of their late Governor, Tolbac [Ryk Tulbagh, 1699-1771], who resided among them, until upward of four-score years of age.” He quotes Alexander Pope (1688-1744) on fame, as a way of describing the “father of the Colony.” He concludes the section with a discussion of slavery and white militias, saying that “The number of white men who bear arms in this colony, and are formed into a militia, amount to upwards of four thousand; and their slaves to twenty thousand.” And yet slavery is, according to Forbes, more benign here, especially when compared to Southeast Asia or the West Indies. The price of an enslaved person is much higher here than in India. Forbes’s next section focuses on “Hottentots.” He presents a historical narrative of their colonization by the Dutch, depicting it as a process of submission either willed by the regions indigenous peoples themselves, or instigated by the cleverness of the Dutch. He writes that the Hottentots (the Khoikhoi) were “easily won over by presents of tobacco, brandy, and cutlery, permitted them [the Dutch] to extend their territories.” Later, “intoxicated by the pleasures of the brandy and tobacco, they, in a manner sold themselves and children, as slaves to the Dutch.” Others fled into the interior, especially those who “preferred” a pastoral life. Forbes proceeds to describe what he understands to be the physical features of the group, saying they are “like the Negroes; whom they also greatly resemble in feature,” and fond of painting their own bodies. Forbes views them as “cheerful, harmless, and hospitable; and…perhaps much happier in their ignorance, than the generality of Europeans with their boasted refinements,” and encourages his reader to ignore stories that suggest they are dirty, foolish, or evil, as those are “the tales of the planters” and not based on reality. Forbes does, however, separate one group from the “innocent savages” he describes: “The Bushmen, or Woodmen Hottentots, are a set of people, who live by rapine, and plundering their neighbors, whether Hottentots, Caffres [?], or the Dutch farmers, at places the most remote from protection.” These, he concludes, are not an actual group, but a collection of outcasts and escaped enslaved people, who unite against those committed to peace. He compares them to groups of excommunicated Hindus in India. Forbes then turns to “Caffraria” (Kaffraria), though only to say he can say little, as all one hears are the “the prejudiced relations and improbable stories of the ignorant planters settled nearest to their districts.” He instead begins a discussion of “Wild Animals at the Cape,” beginning with the hippopotamus, a creature he describes as generally calm but prone to “mischief” when pursued in water. He compares hippo teach to elephant tusks, and asserts that the hippo is in fact the behemoth mentioned in the Book of Job, which he quotes as length. Next comes the Rhinoceros, whose horn “is much valued for its virtues, especially as an antidote to poison; and many other parts of the animal are esteemed a remedy against various disorders.” He also traces it back to scripture: he “suppose[s] it to be the Unicorn of the holy scriptures.” He devotes short discussions to the giraffe (or camel-leopard), and the zebra, which possesses the “independence of the wildest beast in the forest.” He concludes with the monkeys present on the Cape, and mentions in particular an orangutan brought from Java, “which certainly in many respects seems to approach very near the human species; but no doubt the great Author of nature has decreed an impassable barrier between them.” After the animals, Forbes focuses on birds. He regrets that, despite hearing about many fascinating species, he cannot add to his collection as he remains confined to the coast and cannot access the interior. He gives an account of the ostrich, “said to digest stones, iron, and other hard substances,” and the cassowary, a formidable bird whose attack of two men Forbes describes in detail. Forbes lists several other birds before beginning a section on “Seals and Penguins,” creatures he sees as metaphorically related: “as the seal seems to unite the quadruped and fish in the great chain of creation, so the Penguin forms the link between fish and birds.” Penguins, he says, look like “so many children” walking about on the rocks. Having exhausted his natural historical experiences, Forbes includes a section on “Excursions in the Country.” This includes trips to estates beyond the city, including one where he encounters a black grape with red juice “as thick as blood.” He is not surprised they use it for the Eucharist. He is, unfortunately, disappointed by the Dutch gardens; although some are quite extensive, they do not possess any of the charm of English landscaping. At the end of the section, Forbes includes a poem “written during an India voyage, which have never been printed, and I think display much poetical taste,” though it is unclear if it was written by Forbes. It begins “On flowers in Europe yet unseen I tread/ And trees of stranger-form embrace my head.” The final portion of the letter contains a visit to “Constantia,” a famous vineyard outside the city. Forbes describes the peculiarity of the soil, a wine tasting, and a tour of the grounds. He then writes that he departs for St. Helena the next day, though he regrets having to leave so soon, due to his fondness for the town. Portions of this text appear in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 2, pp. 163-190.
- Physical Description:
- 41 pages
- Genre:
- Correspondence , Botanical illustrations, Ornithological illustrations, Travel sketches, Maps, Watercolors (paintings), Drawings (visual works), Engravings (prints), and Portraits
- Subject Terms:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819. Descriptive letters and drawingsForbes, James, 1749-1819. Oriental memoirs
- Associated Places:
- EnglandItalyScotlandWales
- Associated People/Groups:
- East India CompanyForbes, James, 1749-1819
- Finding Aid Title:
- James Forbes archive
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199790
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199790?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1