THEAFRICANS
People valued iron and copper so dearly that the metals were principal
commodities of trade and major targets of theft and robbery. European
survivors of shipwrecks on the southeast African coast found that iron and
copper items from the wrecks were in great demand. In 1689, the com-
mander of the Dutch Cape Colony informed his superiors in Amsterdam
that some survivors of the wrecked Stauenissewho had lived in Natal for
nearly three years reported that "one may travel 200 or 300 miles through
the country, without any fear of danger from the men, provided you go
naked [unarmed] and without any iron or copper, for these things give
inducement to the murder of those who have them."39
Cattle were the most prized possessions of all and the principal indica-
tors of wealth. Ludwig Alberti, who was employed by the Dutch govern-
ment as commandant of the garrison at Fort Frederick (later Port Elizabeth)
between 1803 and 1806, wrote that the Xhosa, the southernmost
Nguni
people,
live principally by cattle-breeding. For the well-being of the family, a suffi-
cient number of cattle are required, whose attendance and treatment is the
sole responsibility of the father of the family, in which he is assisted by his