The Boer war and South African landscapes ...

This week, I have chosen to analyze Winston S. Churchill's "The Boer War: London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and Ian Hamilton's March," published in May 1900. 

There were a number of excerpts that caught my eye in this book, bearing in mind that it is in fact an historical account/report on the Anglo-Boer war, rather than an anthropological account as such. However, I was struck by a description of Cape Town as the ship nears the African continent, "(I) looked long and silently towards the land, where the lights of Capetown, its streets, its quays, and its houses gleamed from the night like diamonds on black velvet" (Pg 8).  Ultimately, what really interests me here is the description of Cape Town, not merely for what it actually details, but because of what it reveals about European perceptions of the African continent. First off, it is important to note the use of the word "diamond" here which alludes to one of the major causes of the war, the British colonial desire to control the natural resources of the area.  However, the description is also useful in showing us that Cape Town was one of the few, if not the only, densely populated and lit towns in the area. Africamap is useful from this regard; the 1889 Missions map shows Cape Town to be the only town of note in the area for about 500 kilometers, whereas the current map shows the development of a number of other populous areas in the region. 

Ultimately, however, what is interesting from this account is the fact that it reveals a strong colonial view of Cape Town as a beacon of 'civilization' in the dark African continent, as here Churchill describes Cape Town's surroundings as "black velvet." Obviously, this is not a view we would subscribe to today, but it is strongly typical of the view of the time, with the Europeans viewing themselves as civilizers to the land. This is a sentiment that is repeated several times throughout the book when Churchill describes the landscape: "All nature smiles, and here at last is a land where white men may rule and prosper" (Pg 19). The intentions for the land are clear, his description is so intrinsically embedded with racial superiority that he describes the land as smiling. Furthermore, he describes the situation of another European settler; "he had bought the ground, built the house, reclaimed waste tracts, enriched the land with corn and cattle, sunk all his capital in the enterprise, and backed it with the best energies of his life" ( Pg 31). For me, his writing is clear, he views the interactions of European's with the land as a simple "enrichment," as though it has been lying as wasteland prior to their arrival. 

Africamap, current map of South Africa
http://africamap.harvard.edu/

Africamap with overlay of 1889 Catholic Missions Map
http://africamap.harvard.edu/

The Battle of Magersfontein,  December 1899, Northern Cape.
http://www.timegun.org/fighting_mac.html