Book review: Ontdekkingsreisiger of Soldaat? Die Verkenningstogte van Robert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795) in Suider-Afrika

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Ontdekkingsreisiger of Soldaat? Die Verkenningstogte van Robert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795) in Suider-Afrika.
Oorspronklike titel: Een Nederlander in de wildernis, de ontdekkingsreizen van Robert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795) in Zuid Afrika.
Geskryf deur Luc Panhuisen
Uit Nederlands vertaal deur Wium Van Zyl
Africana Uitgewers, Kaapstad, 2015
ISBN: 9780620683463

Short bio of Robert Jacob Gordon

Robert Jacob Gordon was born in Doesburg in Gelderland in the Netherlands on 29 September 1743, but was of Scottish extraction – his father was the commander of the Scots Brigade in Holland. Robert Jacob joined the Dutch Light Dragoons as a young cadet in 1753 and six years later enrolled at Hardewijk University, where he conducted studies in the humanities. He did very well there, demonstrating giftedness in intelligence, and had a wide range of interests, several of which he pursued on his five travels in South Africa. For this reason he is referred to as an antiquarian, natural philosopher and an important enlightened 18th-century traveller. After university he accepted a cadetship in his father’s regiment and soon obtained the rank of lieutenant, followed by that of captain in 1774.

Being somewhat bored with his military duties he obtained leave to visit the Cape of Good Hope, where his first appearance was as a soldier on furlough. He was sent to the Cape to be the captain of the garrison by the Chamber of Seventeen of the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) in 1777.

During his time at the Cape between 1777 and 1786 he undertook five journeys into the interior, for which detailed journals were kept. He was responsible for setting up a collection of maps of the countryside, and drawings of its scenery, landscape, inhabitants, flora and fauna.

He was particularly well respected for his intellectual capabilities and the broad cultural interest he showed and was a hospitable person. He is said to have been communicative and extremely well-informed of local events and situations, agreeable but at times facetious; he was tall, stout, and soldier-like. According to an associate he spoke English, Dutch, French and Gaelic, and learnt some of the indigenous languages. He was married to Suzanna Nicolet. When the British occupied the Cape in 1795, Gordon found himself under considerable pressure and on 25 October 1795 took his own life.

Short bio – Lucas Panhuysen

The writer of Een Nederlander in de wildernis, de ontdekkingsreizen van Robert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795) in Zuid Afrika is Lucas (Luc) Henricus Maria Panhuysen, a Dutch historian and journalist. Before working as a journalist he studied history. His journalistic work was with Het Parool and De Groene Amsterdammer. His inaugural historical publications included biographies of the French philosopher JJ Rousseau (1991) and Lord Byron (1992), and then several publications followed, and in 2010 Een Nederlander in de wildernis, published by Nieuw Amsterdam. Based on his wide reading and understanding of the Enlightenment period (Gordon’s tenure at the Cape covers some of this period), Panhuysen was able to produce a study of the life and travels of Gordon that contextualises the person in place and time.

Material consulted by Panhuysen for writing the book

The book is divided into an introduction, six chapters and an epilogue, and finally it gives a list of sources. Most important of all the sources is the Gordon Atlas curated in the Rijksprentenkabinet of the Rijksmusem in Amsterdam. The Fagel Collection in the National Archives at Den Haag consists of letters from Gordon to his friend Hendrik Fagel which provide an understanding of Gordon in his time. Several other important sources are included in the list of texts consulted for the study of the life and travels of Gordon at the Cape, between 1777 and 1786. For instance, there are other accounts, such as of expeditions undertaken by William Paterson and Anders Sparrman which coincided with Gordon’s time at the Cape. Amongst these are editors Raper and Boucher’s Robert Jacob Gordon, Cape Travels, 1777 to 1785, published in 1988 by Brenthurst Press, Johannesburg. Works on other travellers include works on Hendrik Swellengrebel Jnr and accounts from The Journal of Hendrik Jacob Wikar (1779), The Journals of Jacobus Jansz (1760) and Willem Van Reenen (1791). Publications by South African writer and poet Patrick Cullinan on Gordon are included, as is LC Rookmaaker’s study on the Gordon Atlas portraying the unique accounts and sketches of the South African hinterland. Panhuysen consulted widely for the writing of the Gordon text and the sources list (pp 187–9) is essential reading for any person wishing to conduct further studies on the travels of Gordon and on Cape history of the late 18the century.

Discussion of Panuysen’s text

Gordon was an explorer in the service of the DEIC and Panhuysen explains him as a cartographer, botanist, sociologist, anthropologist and diplomat. It would, however, currently be difficult to find all of these talents/designations in a single individual. Panhuysen shows Gordon as an extraordinary individual, one with abounding energy, experience and a great passion for travelling to reconnoitre an interior that he became more familiar with as he undertook travels into the Cape hinterland. Yet a Dutch readership, in the country of Gordon’s birth, hardly knows about him and his achievements. He is better known in South Africa because he lived and worked here for a period of time. The link between Dutch and Cape history of the second half of the 18th century, however, warranted a written-up account of the life and travels in the Cape of this interesting person. This was done by Panhuysen.

Journeys into the interior were characterised by Gordon’s curiosity, to write up the information and sketch images of his experiences and of what he saw. The act of writing up and sketching was a way not only of documenting the space and landscape of the Cape at the time but also of expanding borders. One of the most significant features of the five journeys undertaken was the naming of the Orange River in 1779, in honour of the Stadtholder William V of Orange. Panhuysen explains the importance of this act, and the official ceremony at the time. Although one could argue that Gordon might not have intentionally appropriated the land and culture of others, by the proclamation of the river in honour of the Prince of Orange it was nevertheless a significant act of appropriation as it defined borders, cutting off the local inhabitants from one another, and setting new borders for the future.

Gordon’s tenure at the Cape and in South Africa need to be seen in the context of his past. Pages 16–20 explain the early and formative years of Gordon before he came to the Cape, when he trained in the Netherlands to be a soldier; pages 20–25 explain the context of the Enlightenment as new discoveries were made in philosophy, natural philosophy, physics and theology. Against this background, explains Panhuysen, Gordon was more set on discovery for bewilderment and wonder, rather than being bound by the parochial mindsets of discovery for the sake of demonstrating the might of God. Panhuysen is well placed to make this commentary, as he is a student of the Enlightenment and thus able historically to contextualise Gordon’s tenure at the Cape.

Gordon tried to look for similarities in persons from different cultural backgrounds rather than emphasise the differences (p 28). In contrast to the Dutch writer Multatuli, who spoke out against the Dutch hegemony over the Javanese, Gordon did not speak out against the actions of his employer, the DEIC, in its relations with the local inhabitants, probably because he had a vested interest in the travels he conducted and these were costly, and funded by his employer.

Pages 25–38 provide information on several topics that would interest students studying race relations of the 18th century at the Cape, as well as providing a political and social history of the DEIC, its relationship with its inhabitants, and descriptions of the deportment, conventions and customs of the time. Above all, however, Panhuysen’s book is set to explain the journeys Gordon undertook, of which his second one, commencing 6 October, 1777, four months after arriving at the Cape, was to be a major one and one richly documented, with descriptions beginning on p 41 of Panhuysen’s book.

A painting of Robert Jacob Gordon, 1780 (William Fehr Collection, Iziko Museums, Cape Town)

The expedition was a monumental undertaking and did not rest with the collection of specimens of plants and rocks. Gordon found himself mediating between rival factions and was horrified by the brutal way in which they attacked one another. His letters to his friend Hendrik Fagal in Holland contain these details, and are of immense historiographical importance for explaining race relations at the Cape in the latter half of the 18th century. Accompanying him on the expedition was Gordon’s staff, including servants and a “resident” artist, J Schumacher, responsible for the sketches and paintings in the Gordon collection in Amsterdam. An important person he met on one of the journeys was the botanist William Paterson, who was collecting specimen plants for the Duke of Strathmore and who described Gordon as “a gentleman of extensive information in most branches of natural history”.

A challenge for Gordon was to explain unusual physical features of certain of the local women, which are carefully documented in his journal (p 46). Certain dangerous experiences are described in detail, such as encountering lion which came into close proximity, but never sufficiently close to warrant any direct firing. Pages 48–52 describe the emergence of the peripatetic farmers (Trekboers) venturing inland with their stock to evade the commercial hubs and get as far away as possible from the DEIC administration. These Trekboers were not Gordon’s favourite people. The written letters to Fagel from Gordon’s pen enthusiastically describe his meetings with local inhabitants, including the Xhosas and the Gouanaquas. The rituals for such visits were characterised by presenting gifts, followed by cordial meetings even as far as crossing the volatile and dangerous Fish River (Groot Rivier), where others were not always as successful for establishing such peaceful links as Gordon did. Gordon’s civil and courteous manner with the local inhabitants ensured that he returned home safely, unlike other adventurers, who never lived to tell the tale.

The period from August to October 1778 of Gordon’s third expedition (June 1778 – January 1779) coincided with the travels of Governor Van Plettenberg, to the north-east frontiers of the colony. This part of the journey was difficult for Gordon, as his companion was his boss, the Governor of the Cape. Each kept separate journals and the differences between the two are evident, with Van Plettenberg’s reflecting a more hegemonic style. Just the appearance of the Governor’s caravan was enough to evoke fear in the local chieftains and inhabitants, a strong contrasting feature of Gordon, whose approach was gentler and had never been as threatening to them.

Kweekvallei (Prince Albert) painted by Robert Gordon in 1778. Gordon's Hill, on the far end of the painting, has a vantage point from which to see the village.

Yet on an occasion Gordon participated excessively in a hunting spree with Van Plettenberg which resulted in a huge surplus of slain hippopotami. When Van Plettenberg’s party had gone ahead leaving Gordon behind, one of the local Xhosa chiefs conducted a ceremony of honouring Gordon, almost as if to recognise the authority of Gordon over that of his superior, Van Plettenberg. It was on the third expedition that Gordon was able to sketch a black rhinoceros with accompanying descriptions, received with excitement by zoologists in the Netherlands. His third journey into the Cape interior had brought him considerable pleasure, especially meeting the Bushmen, “wat goeie mense was” (“who were good people”).

This black rhinoceros was sketched on the third voyage and the accompanying commentary by Gordon included a remark that one needed to travel for about 150 hours before encountering one, as they were virtually hunted out in the Cape. The original sketch is housed in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Exotic experiences promote further intrigue for Gordon, starting off on his fourth expedition in 1779. This might be called the most successful of all his expeditions. He reached the origin of the Orange River and from there attempted to map its course in the hope of coming upon the giraffe, an animal he looked out for with great intrigue. Panhuysen provides details about others who had previously come upon giraffe (pp 93ff) and traces expeditions to locate the creature, back to Roman times. Once he had discovered them the fascination for them never left him, and he would spend hours observing them through his binoculars.

The discovery of the Orange River is described in his journals, as well as the meetings with locals and the measuring of the river and its direction and dimension as it flowed through the land.

Giraffe with local inhabitant

Kabas was given the assurance by Gordon that if he did not like it in Cape Town he would be taken back to his original home. A deep irony enters the story here. Kabas was encouraged by his father to go with Gordon because of the pressures on indigenous life in the interior due to the expanding frontier. But fortune also favoured Kabas, because on 22 February 1780 Gordon was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the Cape garrison. Furthermore, Gordon was now officially being praised as a significant figure responsible for making significant discoveries. On top of this it was time to end his bachelor status. Even before he settled down to married life, he christened a small place on his fourth voyage Suzannadal in honour of his future Swiss wife, Suzanna Nicolet. He was 37 and she 31, quite late to be married, but as required by military and diplomatic etiquette Robert and Suzanna made a fine couple.

But his life had changed. And so did that of Kabas, who now resided permanently at the court. Gordon no longer had the freedom to travel, as his duties had become more taxing. Neither were matters stable at the Castle of Good Hope. Britain’s eye had caught the strategic importance of the Cape of Good Hope. Some technical issues there affected Gordon, such as the fact that he had not yet been officially sworn into his new position, which led to friction in the military hierarchy at the Cape. But life went on and the Gordon family grew by two, adding first Robert and then Pieter to the clan (1781 and 1783 respectively). He named what is today the Kanoneiland in the Orange River “Jonge Robbert (sic) Gordon Eijland” and a fountain higher up on the southern coastline after his children. Today it is Gordon’s Bay.

During the period of Gordon’s official duties, and hence reduced time to reconnoitre and explore, he was occupied with classification, sketching, drawing, annotating, cataloguing, from his previous expeditions, working on the completion of his map. Artefacts and exhibits collected were shipped to Amsterdam for curating, addressed to His Highness the Prince of Orange, under whose auspices his duties fell. In Gordon there existed an acute awareness that illustrations, paintings and watercolours should all be carefully annotated for the sake of posterity. His rooms at the Castle served as a suitable place for a temporary museum through which he could conduct tours for visitors. Perhaps the pièce de résistance of all his exhibits was the scene not of the discovery of the source of the Orange River (as one would have expected), but of eight giraffe outrunning a horseman and local inhabitants. The artist who accompanied him on his tours was not able to capture the entire subject matter, so Gordon filled in with descriptions of what he had seen … “twelve giraffe, more than fifty elephants, five rhinoceroses and a troop of approximately twenty ostriches”. Attempts on the Gordon map show some of these, but really only a few compared with what must have been seen. A classic is the head of the rhinoceros, which shows the accuracy of the physiognomic features of this creature.

Illustrations of the local inhabitants feature strongly, but possibly more for the importance of their attire and characteristic position in society than their personal individual features. Not only physiognomic features and sketches of creatures, but also climatological characteristics at the Cape are represented on the Gordon map.

Gordon’s descriptions in letters to his friend Fagel explain his close affinity with the Xhosa. He greatly cherished the relationship he had struck up with them on his journeys. It is important to see this extraordinary view displayed by Gordon towards the Xhosa, contextualised at the time of the outbreak of the so-called First Frontier War – many would rather have viewed them as hostile, whereas he saw them in their time and place.

Perhaps news of the war on the frontier at the Cape was overtaken by news of a far greater danger to the Cape, namely the ever approaching British navy. The French discoverer Francois Le Vaillant visiting Gordon at the Cape in 1784 wrote in his diary of the precarious military position of which Gordon was part, because the DEIC had not sufficiently recognised his authority or equipped themselves in the face of impending danger. This caused Gordon great personal grief and would later have a detrimental effect on him.

He longed for the interior and for expeditions, and perhaps it was the circumstances at the Cape at the time, ill-discipline in the ranks and ambiguities within the military leadership that persuaded Gordon to begin to plan for a fifth journey inland. It began on 19 November 1785. A wagon drawn by 12 oxen went ahead that morning to avoid the sweltering heat, followed by Gordon on horseback with a new azimuth compass that would give more precise directions. The expedition proceeded north of the Koue Bokkeveld (north of Ceres) and then through the Little Karoo to as far as the mouth of the Great Fish and then back to Cape Town via Swellendam. The voyage is important because of the documentation about local inhabitants and their explanations of the terrible circumstances prevailing. On one day Godlieb Rudolph Opperman and his commando were responsible for the death of 500 members of the San community. Panhuysen reports that between 1786 and 1795 more than 19 000 cattle and 84 000 sheep were taken in depredations, while 2 480 San were massacred and 654 taken capture. While on this journey Gordon witnessed first-hand the continuing First Frontier War, the outbreak of which in 1799–1780 he had seen on his previous (fourth) journey. The fifth journey now completed (April 1786), Gordon could place several points in perspective of what was happening at the Cape and what was happening in the interior – so far apart, in time and space, and in events.

Chapter 6 starts by explaining how Gordon’s promotion was finally confirmed, and one would think things would have gone well. For the remaining nine years (1786–1795) Gordon could devote his time and energy to strengthening the Cape garrison, in the face of potential attacks from an approaching enemy. The British fleet was getting closer, its ascendancy in the waters of the Atlantic not in doubt. At the same time the name of Gordon in European circles became more well-known as the energetic discoverer of new species in Africa. Especially the giraffe bones sent to Amsterdam received great recognition from Allamand. Visitors to the Cape en route to India were suitably taken by Gordon’s exhibits and findings. His name had become enshrined in local Cape natural history.

A true Renaissance man who had taught his children music, had brought humanism to the Cape. But it was at a difficult time. Many challenges faced him – foreign, local and personal. The end for him was not a nice one. Perhaps it should be left to the reader to see what happened.

Luc Panhuysen has written a marvellous book on a period of Cape and South African history that truly enriches South African historiography. The painstaking task of rendering the original Dutch into Afrikaans, thus making it accessible to readers in this country, was undertaken by Wium Van Zyl. The result is an incredible read, and a great opportunity for the student of South Africa’s earlier history to understand just how strongly the ties with it lie with Europe. The complexities within the country are brought out primarily in the field of race relations. In all these, Gordon was ahead of his time, and one is not sure if he deserved to end the story as he did.

Africana Uitgewers, Pinewood Village 190, Pinelands 7405, RSA

Africanapublishers@mwebbiz.co.za

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