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Bibles and Beads: Missionaries as Traders in Southern Africa in the Early Nineteenth Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Roger B. Beck
Roger B. Beck
Affiliation:
Eastern Illinois University
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Extract

Trade across the Cape frontier in the first three decades of the nineteenth century, and government attempts to regulate that trade, cannot be understood without first considering the role of Protestant missionaries as traders and bearers of European manufactured goods in the South African interior. From their arrival in 1799, missionaries of the London Missionary Society carried on a daily trade beyond the northern and eastern boundaries of the Cape Colony that was forbidden by law to the colonists. When missionaries of the Methodist Missionary Society arrived in the mid-1810s they too carried beads as well as Bibles to their mission stations outside the colony. Most missionaries were initially troubled by having to mix commercial activities with their religious duties. They were forced, however, to rely on trade in order to support themselves and their families because of the meagre material and monetary assistance they received from their societies. They introduced European goods among African societies beyond the Cape frontiers earlier and in greater quantities than any other enterprise until the commencement of the Fort Willshire fairs in 1824. Most importantly, they helped to bring about a transition from trade in beads, buttons and other traditional exchange items to a desire among many of the peoples with whom they came into contact for blankets, European clothing and metal tools and utensils, thus creating a growing dependency on European material goods that would eventually bring about a total transformation of these African societies.

Type
The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , July 1989 , pp. 211 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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References

1 McCracken, John, Politics and Christianity in Malawi 1875–1940 (Cambridge, 1977), chs. 2, 3.Google Scholar

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7 Ibid.

8 Read to LMS, Botha's farm near Algoa Bay, 18 March 1802, CWM, Incoming 2/1B. The Xhosa sold their cattle dear for buttons and beads which they then used to buy cattle cheap. Peires, J. B., The House of Phalo (Johannesburg, 1981), 100.Google Scholar

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12 Anderson to Hardcastle, Cape of Good Hope, 22 August 1806, CWM, Incoming 3/3B.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Anderson to Hardcastle, Klaarwater over the Great River, 12 October [1807], on back of letter written 1 September [1807], CWM, Incoming, 3/4C.

16 Anderson to Hardcastle, Cape of Good Hope, 31 August 1809, CWM, Incoming, 4/1C.

17 Ibid. The account of the LMS fund in October 1809 shows that 253 lbs of ivory were sold at 3/6 per lb. or 221 rixdollars total. See Anderson to LMS, Cape Town, 24 October 1809, CWM, Incoming, 4/1E.

18 Read to David Langton, Bethelsdorp, 6 June 1816, CWM, Incoming, 6/3D.

19 Opinion contained in a letter from M. C. Vos. A copy of the original minutes of the meeting of the missionaries held in the Orphan House, Cape of Good Hope, 14 Aug. 1817. CWM, Incoming, 7/2C, p. 14.

20 Opinion in a letter from C. Kramer, Ibid.

21 Opinion of the missionary deputies, Ibid.

22 Ibid., p. 13.

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25 Campbell to Hudson, Shacklewell, 5 Sept. 1821, CWM, Incoming, 8/3A.

26 Whitworth to Mason, Cape Town, 15 Nov. 1825, MMS, 302/4/1 (1825), 71.

27 William Shaw to WMS, Wesleyville, journal entry for 19 March 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), n.

28 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, 17 August 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 29.

29 Barnabas Shaw to Brockley, Cape Town, entry for 11 May 1816, diary letter, MMS, 299/1/1/26 (1807–18). For similar comments see John Philip to Burder, Cape Town, 29 July 1820, CWM, Incoming, 8/2B, and Stephen Kay to Bunting, Leetakoo (Dithakong), 20 June 1821, MMS, 299/1/4 (1821), 22, p. 17.

30 Barnabas Shaw to Bunting, Leliefontein, 22 September 1819, MMS, 299/1/2 (1819), 24. Barnabas Shaw to [Bunting], near the Heere Lodgement, 7 July 1819, MMS, 299/1/2 (1819), 14. The request was granted; see ‘Minutes of a Meeting of the Committee held 6 January 1820’, MMS, General Minutes, Box 546, p. 124.

31 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, Caf Fraria, 31 Jan. 1824, MMS, 300/2/3 (1824), n.

32 For van der Kemp's comments about prices at the Cape see van der Kemp to Haveis, near Tarka, Sneeuberg, 12 August 1799, CWM, Incoming, 2/2B.

33 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, 17 Aug. 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 29.

34 Whitworth to Mason, Cape Town, 15 Dec. 1825, MMS, Box 302 (S.A. 4), 302/4/1 (1825), 71. Accompanying an order the previous January Whitworth noted that ‘not one of the above articles can now be bought in Cape Town, & though Mr. Levick [a Cape Town merchant] has a large amount coming out, he has actually engaged them all & cannot promise me any for the use of the Brethren’. Whitworth to Morley and Watson, Cape Town, 12 Jan. 1825, MMS, 302/4/1 (1825), 4.

35 Peires, , House of Phalo, 100–2.Google Scholar These trade fairs were held nearly every week until they were discontinued in December 1830: Beck, Roger B., ‘The legalization and development of trade on the Cape frontier, 1817–1830’ (Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1987)Google Scholar, ch. 5 and passim.

36 Kay to WMS, Grahamstown, July 1825, MMS 301/3/1 (1825), 26, Journal.

37 William Shaw to Broadbent, n.d., enclosed in Broadbent to Morley, Falmouth, England, 8 April 1826, MMS 302/4/2 (1826), 19. In 1826 one rixdollar was worth one shilling and six pence, 2000 rixdollars were equal to £150 sterling and £60 sterling equal to 800 rixdollars.

38 Helen Ross to her brother, Incehra, 28 Dec. 1825. Cory Library for Historical Research, Rhodes University, Grahamstown (CLHR) MS 8236. See also Helen Ross to Mrs. Broadbent, n.p. [1824 or early 1825], CLHR, MS 2637, 75–7.

39 Helen Ross to Mrs. Blackwood, n.p. [1824 or early 1825], CLHR, MS 2637, 75–6.

40 Helen Ross to her brother, Incehra, 28 Dec. 1825, CLHR, MS 8236.

41 William Shaw to WMS, Grahamstown, 29 Dec. 1830, MMS, 303/5/1 (1830), 47.

42 Philip to Burder, Cape Town, 29 July 1820, CWM, Incoming, 8/2B. Although several letters mention that the receiver should use ‘ the enclosed beads’ as a guide for judging the exact size of beads to be sent, no beads were found in the course of research. The beads drawn by Philip are pin-head size. Seldom was there an order for beads larger than this.

43 Kay to Bunting, Leetakoo (Dithakong), 20 June 1821, MMS, 299/1/4 (1821), 22, p. 17.

44 Whitworth to Morley and Watson, Cape Town, 12 January 1825, MMS, 302/4/1 (1825), 4. A ‘cask’ of beads was 672 English pounds. See Johnstone, William D., For Good Measure. A Complete Compendium of International Weights and Measures (New York, 1975), 183.Google Scholar

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46 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, 17 Aug. 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 29. Regarding the size of brass wire to be sent see also Helen Ross to her brother, Incehra, 28 Dec. 1825, CLHR, MS 8236.

47 See Laidler, P. W., ‘Beads in Africa south of the Zambesi’, part I, Proc. Rhodesia Scientific Assoc., XXXIV (1934), 1–27Google Scholar; Laidler, P. W., ‘Beads in Africa south of the Zambesi’, part II, Trans. Rhodesia Scientific Assoc., XXXV (1937), 35–46Google Scholar; Lowe, C. van Riet, ‘The glass beads of Mapungubwe’, Archaeological Survey, Department of Education, Arts and Science (South Africa), Archaeological Series no. IX (1955), 1–22Google Scholar; Sleen, W. G. N. van der, ‘Ancient glass beads with special reference to the beads of East and Central Africa and the Indian Ocean’, J. Royal Anthrop. Inst., LXXXVIII (06-12 1958), 203–217;Google ScholarGitywa, Vincent Zanoxolo, ‘The arts and crafts of the Xhosa in the Ciskei: past and present’, Fort Hare Papers, 5 (09 1971), 92–8Google Scholar; Sobahle, W. M. K., ‘Xhosa beadwork from Victoria East and Middledrift Districts’, Fort Hare Papers, 6 (09 1977), 266–71.Google Scholar

48 De Lange noted in regard to Xhosa preferences for ochre in 1963 that ‘There is no standard colour which is favoured universally [by the Xhosa], and fashions change so rapidly that suppliers to the traders find it impossible to keep them supplied with the exact shade in demand’. Lange, M. de, ‘Some traditional cosmetic practices of the Xhosa’, Annals of the Cape Provincial Museums, 3 (08 1963), 86.Google Scholar

49 There are no systematic studies of the ways in which beads of different sizes, shapes and colours were used by the peoples of southern Africa at this time. The studies which do discuss these questions are generally ahistorical or focus only on practices as they exist in the twentieth century. As well as those sources listed in footnote 47 above, see Gitywa, , ‘Arts and crafts’, 117–29Google Scholar; Mayr, F., ‘Zulu beadwork: the language of colours’, Annals of the Pietermaritzburg Museum, Natal, 1 (1907), 159–66Google Scholar; Lange, M. de, ‘Dolls for the promotion of fertility as used by some of the Nguni tribes and the Basuto’, Annals of the Cape Provincial Museums, 1 (03, 1961), 86–101Google Scholar; Lange, de, ‘Some traditional cosmetic practices’, 85–95Google Scholar; Jager, E. J. de, ‘Notes on the magical charms of the Cape Nguni tribes’, Fort Hare Papers, 2 (11 1963), 291–309Google Scholar; and Bigalke, E. H., ‘Dress, personal decoration and ornament among the Ndlambe’, Annals of the Cape Provincial Museums, IX (10, 1972), 65–90.Google Scholar

50 Philip to Burder, Cape Town, 29 July 1820, CWM, Incoming, 8/2B.

51 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, Caffraria, 31 January 1824, MMS, 300/2/3 (1824), 11.

52 Hamilton to Borsden, New Lattakoo, 15 Dec. 1825, CWM, Incoming, 9/4B. See also Meeting of Southern Committee, CWM, Committee Minutes, Box 1, p. 3, noting the reception of Hamilton's letter.

53 Helen Ross to her brother, Incehra, 23 Dec. 1825, CLHR, MS 8236.

54 Broadbent to Morley, Falmouth, England, 8 April 1826, MMS, 302/4/2 (1826), 19.

55 Kay to WMS, Grahamstown, July 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 26.

56 Helen Ross to her brother, Incehra, 3 Dec. 1824, CLHR, MS 8246; see also same to parents, Incehra, n.d. (after 1824), CLHR, MS 2637, pp. 54–5.

57 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, 17 Aug. 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 29. See also Whitworth's order of 12 Jan. 1825 in footnote 34 above, Whitworth to Morley and Watson, Cape Town, 12 Jan. 1825, MMS, 302/4/1 (1825), 4.

58 Whitworth to Mason, Cape Town, 15 Nov. 1825, MMS, 302/4/1 (1825), 71. In a letter of 1823 Barnabas Shaw reported that a cask of beads was to be ‘divided equally and impartially between the Caffre, Delagoa Bay and Botshuanna Missions’. See Briggs to Barnabas Shaw and Archbell, Mission House, London, 26 Dec. 1823, MMS, Outgoing, Box 24, p. 227.

59 Kay to WMS, Grahamstown, July 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 26, Journal.

60 Minutes of a meeting of the Committee of Finance held 14 October 1829, MMS, Box 558, Minutes, Finance Sub-Committee, 1825–43, ‘. P- 229.

61 William Shaw to WMS, Grahamstown, 29 Dec. 1830, MMS, 303/5/1 (1830), 47.

62 James Read, ‘Disbursements made by the undersigned for the new missions at Lattakoo & c for the year 1817’, New Lattakoo, 31 Dec. 1817, CWM, Incoming, 7/3C.

63 William Shaw to Morley, Wesleyville, Cafrraria, 31 Jan. 1824, MMS, 300/2/3 (1824), 11.

64 Helen Ross to Grace Begbie, Incehra, 26 March 1825, CLHR, MS 2637, p. 64. For a discussion of the different European and Xhosa attitudes toward gift-giving and tribute, see Peires, , House of Phalo, 43–4, 58.Google Scholar

65 John Ross to his mother, Incehra, 6 March 1826, CLHR, MS 7712.

66 See Keppel-Jones, A. (ed.), Philipps, 1820 Settler. His Letters (Pietermaritzburg, 1960), 238Google Scholar; and Lister, Margaret H. (ed.), Journals of Andrew Geddes Bain (Cape Town, 1949), 82.Google ScholarKeppel-Jones, notes that ‘bhasela’ was ‘a request by a customer for a little additional gift which he takes with what he has bought. This custom appears to have been introduced after advent of the white man’, Philipps, 1820 Settler, 238 fn. 2Google Scholar

67 Kay to WMS, Grahamstown, July 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 26, Journal.

68 William Shaw to WMS, Wesleyville, April 1825, MMS, 301/3/1 (1825), 11, journal entry for 19 March 1825.

69 Helen Ross to her brother, Incehra, 3 Dec. 1824, CLHR, MS 8246. See also Helen Ross to her parents [Incehra, after August 1824], CLHR, MS 2637, pp. 49–50.

70 Shrewsbury to WMS, Butterworth, 30 Sept. 1827, MMS, 301/3/3 (1827), 26.

71 Shrewsbury to WMS, Butterworth, 31 Dec. 1827, MMS, Correspondence, Box 301 (S.A. 3), 301/3/3 (1827), 35, journal entry for 2 Sept. 1827.

72 Williams, , ‘Missionaries’ (as cited in n. 2), 240.Google Scholar