tial IocalIandowners-e-the
wine and grain farmers of the southwestern
part of the colony-and
accepted with little question the structure of
society that they inherited from the Dutch.f-'
When they first occupied the Cape Colony, the British regarded them-
selvesas temporary custodians and had no intention of tampering with the
status quo. The Batavian Republic regime, also, was too short-lived to have
enduring effects.t" After 1806, however, the British made several changes.
First, they tried to establish British control in the turbulent eastern frontier
zone. In 18°9, Colonel Richard Collins was appointed as a commissioner
to examine the situation in that area. After a three-month tour, Collins
produced a blueprint for the handling of relations between the colony and
the Xhosa. The two societies should be kept absolutely separate from one
another until the Whites were powerful enough to dominate the region.
"All intercourse between the settlers and the Caffres should be scru-
pulously prevented, until the former shall have increased considerably in
numbers, and are also much more advanced in arts and industry." A mili-
tary force, meanwhile, should clear the Xhosa out of the land west of the
colonial boundary at the Fish River, and beyond that to the Keiskamma.