had only four houses thirty
years after it had become the seat of a landdrost-there
were few spe-
cialized artisans and every trekboer was a jack-of-all-trades.s"
The further the trekboers moved from the arable southwest, the more
their European material comforts and culture became diluted. Hendrik
Swellengrebel, the son of a former governor of the colony, toured the colony
in 1776-77
and subsequently described .trekboer living conditions:
As far as Swellendam and Mossel Bay and occasionally as far as the Zeekoei
River, one finds quite respectable houses with a large room partitioned into 2
or 3, and with good doors and windows, though mostly without ceilings. For
47