themselves to sailors and were made to work alongside men on the most
grueling tasks. Private slave owners were constrained by the fact that their
slaves were valuable property. The condition of slaves varied with the
owner's temperament, occupation, and prosperity. The relationship was
characterized by paternalism, an ideology that structured and legitimized
subordination and exploitation and was expressed in a blend of affection
and coercion. Some of the privately owned slaves "in Cape Town fared
relatively well, even being allowed time to trade on their own account. In
rural areas, prosperous farmers sometimes left slaves i1\charge of farms.
Yet the threat of violence was always present, and many slave owners
enforced their authority with frequent use of the whip.l?
Many slaves made bids for freedom by absconding. Some roamed be-
yond the colonial frontiers and eventually joined indigenous communities.
Others tried to survive as predators on colonial society. From time to time,
bands of escapees lived precariously by robbing burgher homesteads from
refuges on the slopes of Table Mountain and Cape Hanglip, on the eastern
side of False Bay.Such escapees were fortunate if they were able to steal a
gun and to have the assistance of slaveswho were still in service. Sooner or