CAPE COLONIES. (From the Hobart Town Courier, March 21.)

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 298, 7 April 1849, Page 6

CAPE COLONIES. (From the Hobart Town Courier, March 21.)

Our advices from the Cape of Good Hope extend to the 6th of January. The t.oc al condition of the emigrant farmers in the Northern Sovereignty is described as very deplorable. " There are hundreds of men living beyond the nver who are not po^bessed of propeitr to the value of tweDty pounds. They occupy a pie(-e of ground, have a rkkety old waggon, and four or fWe head of cattle ; but noti ing more. They 6uieut almost enti.ely bj the cliP^c ; «nd as c[arue is abundant, they live almost entirely on it. It is by no means • rare occurrence to find two, threo, four, i»r more lumtlies in «unh circumstance-., all living on one farm, and sometimes two or three iamslip* in una hurtebeeste but. T/ieie habitat'ons mo mUrrabie affjus —the dimensions some ten by twenty fett, the materials s'i^k* and reeds, « r:ed door, and one or two hole* of six inches square to serve 'or windows. It i» not uncommon la ht.d su th habitations oceupi'd tiy t*o umihes, Ti.th ten or twelve c'-.ildren of botb sexe3. Tlierb exists among ihe kioen an univermii dread of ghasts. No man, woman, or chid wll *h j»?p in aro »n t»loti- if they can help it. Many Boer* that were at Boom Plaats with Pretoriui Oeclaru tLhtnotaiog would induce them to go over that ground alon —aii'l that not merely in the niijln, bm io t\,e ni'ddle of the day. 'J he social evils in this quarter are gieat and numerous, and will require the utmost exi;rcion, .11 well a» much discretion ou the part of the qov*tD'n<>nt t in the application of a suitable remndy,"-- Graham's Town Jortrjtal, J<*n. 6. The Natal l'/iti)>si> 01 t he 27th December rontai'is the fol o-v»;q; eniou tr:ra a letter c«»ttd Natal, Blh : — ' W • j'ip m a t'read/»l Rtats of excit< nierK Ru« »nours> l< »ye bt.cn bajy /<»• the k*t week, but now ceiii'n u:rs bas »>nv»';, t'ajt I'anda hfi killed (V'-rj wintt sn,.>^ m hiaf on-i'ry, Arrt gcvcal p weiful<*hufd. All th. Gb^Ti-.s m me Jnt-cnon »f th- iJ.lu country ni'Fi fl.d to tho bjuh. Iho couutry is eu'irely deii'itKid, and nil Hj/i' ul'uj'ul j'Ui'hui s pn* 1 u Bt>)> to Tbu whuie of the " tups Coitou Cow^suyV people-

c^me in yesterday evening, together with all the Miitnnaries and othrr inhabitants in that direction. I >oJe out to thf other side of Umsfimi ln«t evening, and fonnd the Caffre men gone to fig lit. The women ia that neighbourhood were coming in droves to (lie Bay tor protection* It is now 3 p.m., and lam lilting up, lest we should be taken by surprise, for it is thought that the ' — — • devils' will overrun the country. The accounts that came in last evening were, that Panda's army wai at the Ugella, but bag not crossed. J. Metres, who was considered a great favourite of Panda's, a fbort time since was at the Bay, purchas- [ in? beads, and took his wife and family with him. i T\to Cdffies have come in, who state that they saw him ! surf his wife and children killed; but thut they managed ! to escape." " A correspondent writes as under—' Sir,— The absorbing topic of the dny here is (I hope and think untrue), that Panda has murdered thirtern or fouiteeu white men from this pUce, who were elephant bunting in his country ; amongst them Messrs. «Jan Meyer, Proudloot, W. Courie, l'urver, Henning, Dafel, Moisa, Hendrik, Stydom, Mrs. Meyer, and three children. The massacre, it appears, was enacted ia the c&uul treacherous and barbarous Ccffre style. Meyer wai murdered whilst on a fritndly parky with the King in h'm kranl. Mrs. Meyer and three child i en were standing outside, find saw it all 1 niter which they wera murdered \— the children's biaii.s being dashed out fig* net the wheel 'ires of Ihe waggon. ' Proudfoor and Courie's party made a desperate thiough ineffectual struggle, tiring until their guns became too hot to use! And bow . you will ask, has all this taken plxcr ? Why, as I shall presently sl.onr you, by another of the unhappy acts of the miserable optimists who govern us; bat to do thu I must go back. It appeais, then, that si few'noonths past, Panda complained generally of strangers from Natal hun'iug in his country, but especially of one Zoohey, ag&inst whom he specified, and abked for inatiuntions how to deal with s>uch inlindcr*. Zoohey triumphantly rebutted his Majesty's charges, and it appears angered both the black and white authorities. With ihe latter it would appear that Zoohcy never waa popular ; but be that os it may, Mi. West sent, in her Majesty's name, a very gracious reply to the savage, telling him he was king in his own country, and could act as ho thought fit wi h the parties in question.' "