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Behind him lay France and years of
bitter religious persecution. In front of him lay a continent which
was scarcely chartered and only slightly understood.
It was a wild and
untamed country which promised much hardship. A beautiful, yet sinister
land where death and disaster would be a companion as close as a
shadow, for years to come. Yet, the land before him also promised
freedom and generous reward to hardworking men with free
spirits.
In Southern Africa
Pierre found all of
these things. He was destined to become the founder of a great family
which would produce pioneers, heroes, scholars, villains and hundreds
of ordinary people of old-fashioned character. Together, they became
the co-builders of a wonderful new nation with a new culture and an
entirely new language.
The descendants of Pierre
Labuscaigne today number in their thousands. Together, we owe a great
deal to our brave ancestors who sacrificed so much for freedom. We
must always try to honour those who made it possible by trying to keep
the knowledge of our identity and the honour of our heritage alive.
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| From
[Asia] Maior we sailed for the Cape of Good Hope... This Cape is a
most stately thing, and the fairest Cape we saw in the whole
circumference of the earth, and we passed by it the 18 of June
[1580]. --From the Journal of Sir Francis Drake. Hakluyt (IV 232
ff) |
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