| Company Journal | On 17 January 1656 in the Company Journal, as translated: As above, dark sky and a dry west wind, destroying the pasturage so that nothing almost is left for the cattle to eat; some old cows are failing in consequence, and we are compelled to kill them for food; the milch cows are drying up; every year it becomes plainer that during the dry season very little can be obtained from them. From June to October they yield milk fairly. The horses also feel it much, but are daily fed on barley; as they are working heavily at the kilns and the carrying of sand and salt, they are getting very thin. Herry has gone to the Hout Bay with his cattle; his and our cattle are together too much for the pasture. We dare not send ours too far away lest they be stolen by the number of Hottentoos about. To set an example, Gerrit C. Stensz: of Zwolle, marine, and Severyn Abrahamsz: of the Hague, soldier, have to-day been condemned to serve ½ a year in chains for stealing in the gardens, and are also to receive 50 lashes each with the forfeiture of a month's wages.2 |
