THEAFRICANS
Moreover, the farmers had an intimate knowledge of the medicinal effects
of the plants in their vicinities and used them to mitigate the impact of
illness.V
There is no doubt that many of the Bantu-speaking
mixed farmers of
Southern, Africa attained a high levelof material security and prosperity. In
1689, the Dutch commander of the Cape Colony interviewed the men who
had survived the wreck of the Stavenisse and spent nearly thee years in
Natal. He reported to Amsterdam that "the country is exceedingly fertile,
and incredibly populous, and full of cattle, whence it is that lions and other
ravenous animals are not very apt to attack men, as they find enough tame
cattle to devour." He added: "In their intercourse with each other they are
very civil, polite, and talkative, saluting each other, whether young or old,
male or female, whenever they meet; asking whence they come, and
whither they are going, what is their news, and whether they have learned
any new dances or songs."54
Nevertheless,
in comparison
with farmers in other continents,
the
Southern African mixed farmers were not very productive. Like their coun-
terparts in tropical Africa, they used a swidden agriculture that did not
yield impressive results, and, since they accumulated as many cattle as