THE LEGACY OF VAN RIEBEECK (2)

NINE years into his stint as commander of the fort at Table Bay, Jan van Riebeeck looked forward to a more profitable appointment in the fascinating East Indies, which he knew well.

After joining the VOC as an assistant surgeon in 1639 at the age of 20, he had taken charge of the company trading post at Tonkin in what is now Vietnam, but had been dismissed for private trading.

During his time at the Cape he attempted to redeem himself in the eyes of his superiors, and he succeeded.

His next posting was to Malacca in Malaysia, where he served as governor from 1662 to 1665, and where his wife Maria died, aged 35.

By 1661 he was winding down his affairs at the Cape, where he had developed a private farm named Boscheuvel at his own expense, raising cereals and planting oranges, lemons, shaddocks, Dutch fruit and nut trees and 1200 vines. His labour force consisted of two free Dutch hirelings, eight slaves and 22 draught oxen.

Van Riebeeck may have hoped to sell his 101-morgen estate to his successor, but when the latter’s ship arrived in June 1661, the captain reported that Gerrit van Harn had died at sea three months earlier.

Following this disappointment, the commander decided to offer Boscheuvel to the company, knowing that the struggling free burghers, who had been released from VOC service to farm along the Liesbeek River, were far too poor to take on any more debt.

His colleagues on the Council of Policy (the merchant, the fiscal and the sergeant) rode out to Wynberg to inspect the estate on July18, 1661.

They reported that it was sheltered from violent winds and was more suitable for large trees than any other place within the settlement. It was also well protected, being within sight of the watch-house named “Hou den Bul”.

It would be a pity if “such fine work” fell into private hands, where it was bound to deteriorate.

The freemen were reluctant to plant orchards and vineyards, preferring to raise grain and garden crops that brought them the quickest profit.

Hardly anyone had a single healthy vine growing near his house or on his ground from the hundreds of cuttings that had been distributed every year.

Van Riebeeck didn’t set a price on his farm, but suggested that “compensation” for his expenses and the price of the land, orchards, outhouses, barns, wagons, ploughs, harrows and implements be left to the discretion of the next visiting VOC commissioner, “in order that the whole transaction may be above suspicion”.

No decision had been reached when the commander and his family left for Batavia on May8, 1662, following the arrival of his successor, Zacharias Wagenaar. What was to become of the finest farm thus far established in the Cape Peninsula? More next week.

The freemen were reluctant to plant orchards and vineyards, preferring to raise grain and garden crops