Natal’s
Colonial Badge, Black Wildebeest
Natal, so named because Vasco da Gama sailed by there on
Christmas Day, 1497, and because Natal is the Portuguese word for
Christmas, rested pretty much undisturbed by Europeans until the 19th
century, except for a series of shipwrecks along the coast and occasional
hunting parties. Then, in July 1824, the British started a settlement.
They wanted trade in ivory, hippo tusks, buffalo hides, cattle and grain.
Although Natal’s stamps adhere strictly to British colonial
protocol (crowned heads, usually key types or key plates) and show nothing of
what 19th century life might have been like at the southern tip of
Africa, matching key events the colony’s history with its postal history
requires very little imagination.
Shaka, the Zulu King who controlled the area surrounding
what became Port Natal (Durban), initially welcomed the settlers and ceded them
about fifty miles of coastline for their use. When the settlement ran short of
medicines, the Zulus escorted the colonizers’ scout to Delgado Bay to get
supplies. This era of good feeling was short lived.
By 1850, when the first Durban post office opened, the
fledgling colony was prospering. Trade was good. Dutch families started farming
the surrounding area. Meanwhile, relations with the Zulus had been souring.
Shaka had died (1828), assassinated by his half-brothers, and, as early as
1835, Zulu resistance to the growing British hegemony had resulted in fierce
attacks on settlements. At one point, Durban had to be evacuated.
Having been proclaimed a separate British colony in 1856,
Natal produced its first stamps in late Spring 1857. These have embossed
British crowns on colored paper and can be found online and at stamp shows, but
the price normally exceeds $100 for perfectly stuck examples. So, I’ve settled
for a cheap Cinderella that resembles Scott #1 (no embossing).
Centennial
Cinderella
Engraved stamps issued during the 1860s, a time of
increasing economic hardship in Natal, have the image of Queen Victoria
commonly used in British colonies. In 1859, Natal’s Parliament had passed a
“Coolie Law” making it possible to bring in much needed Indian workers for
five-year indenture contracts. But, by 1866, all immigration stopped because of
the poor economy and, sadly, indentured workers were being poorly treated by
White farmers. Durban installed street lights in 1864 although, by 1867, the
city could no longer afford oil for them.
Scott
#s 10 and 16, stamps for economic hard times
During the early 1870s, the original engraved stamps were
frequently overprinted, a practice that often connotes political and economic
turmoil. The overprinting may have been undertaken merely to distinguish postal
from fiscal usage. The turmoil, however, stemmed from ever deteriorating
relations with the Zulus. As Natal’s first typographed stamps were being
introduced (1874-1880), matters worsened to the point that the Anglo-Zulu War
broke out, and the British were soundly defeated at the battle of Isandlwana
(January 1879). Over 2500 of the Queen’s soldiers died.
Scott
#s 51, 52, and 53, stamps for war times
The British quickly retaliated. The Anglo-Zulu War
continued until the Zulu’s were decisively defeated at the second Battle of
Ulundi, 21 July 1883. This
warfare ended, in effect, the traditional Zulu Kingdom. The British cemented
control by establishing the separate colony of Zululand, marking the occasion
by issuing the Zululand stamps placed at the very end of our BB albums. After a
few years, Zululand was incorporated into Natal (1897).
Through the 1880s and 1890s, new Natal stamps consisted of
additional values of Queen Victoria key plates and more overprints of earlier
issues.
Scott
#s 74, 78, 79, and 80, stamps for divisive times
At the same time, Indian
citizens grew increasingly concerned about their diminishing rights in Natal.
They brought in a London-trained lawyer to help them. The Registration of
Servants Act No. 2 of 1888 classified Indians as members of an “uncivilized
race.” Free Indians were forced to carry passes or be arrested. The lawyer,
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, planned to stay only a few months after his arrival
in 1893, but ended up living there for over 20 years. He came to think of
himself as being South African as well as Indian. At the time of Gandhi’s
arrival, Whites were outnumbered by Indians in the colony.
Gandhi was living in Durban when the stamps with Edward
VII’s image were issued (1902-08), Natal’s final series. Natal joined with the
Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Transvaal in 1910 to form the Union of
South Africa.
Scott
#s 84 and 85, stamps for end times
A few years ago I had a brief audience with the current
Zulu King, His Majesty Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, at his palace in
Nongoma. A descendant from one of Shaka’s fratricidal brothers, His Majesty
delights in recounting how his people handed the British army its only defeat
in all African history (Isandlwana).
I had to interrupt the King’s recitation, however, because
I was sick -- two flat tires getting to Nongoma on unbelievably washboardy dirt
roads and a nearly empty gas tank had frazzled me. His Majesty was
displeased.
And he reported, regrettably, no gasoline was to be found
in Nongoma. And he had no interest in stamp collecting.
His Majesty Goodwill Zwelithini in ceremonial garb.
He
wore a business suit when I was there.
Roads departing from Nongoma were even more dreadful. We
had hoped to spot black wildebeest along the way but, instead, we ran out of
gas in an extremely remote area. Friendly Zulus, pitying our plight, brought us
gasoline in milk bottles and delicious pineapples that they sliced up with
their machetes.
Ton Dietz, former director of the African Studies Centre at
Leiden University, has written extensively about the stamps of Africa,
including Natal, as an adjunct to his broader interest in African development.
Dietz observes that “Postage stamps, postcards, and other forms of postal
heritage are miniature communication tools and tell stories about places,
routes, and times.” See his 95-page paper on colonial Natal stamps with
extensive illustrations copied from on-line auction catalogs and other sources:
https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2939025/view.
Census: 25 in BB spaces including three of the six official
stamps (Edward VII profile), three tip-ins, 24 on the supplement page.
What a fantastic story about Natal and the Zulu's plus Bud's experience in Africa! This is the best part of stamp collecting in many ways as it brings personal stories and nation history to light.
ReplyDeleteThis would definitely make for an interesting article in the American Philatelist.
Thanks, albumfilling. I greatly enjoyed writing this one.
ReplyDeleteFrom Herb...
ReplyDeleteI finally found the time to read your very interesting article about the Natal stamps and enjoyed the history. I did not know that hippos had tusks but it, again, is a part of “The Flag following Trade." Of course your story about the brief interview with the Zulu king was interesting and my wife can appreciate it better than I because she has travelled on African washboard roads. You were lucky to get the gasoline.
Hi Herb,
ReplyDeleteHippo tusks are modified teeth and, like elephant ivory, are used for carving, although they're not actually ivory. Some hippo tusks are still being legally exported.
Not having enough room in the article and since it didn't have anything directly to do with stamps, I left off the ending of the story about the trip through Zululand. After we got the milk-bottled gas, we went on further but did not get to our destination before the game park was shut for the night. So, I slept as best I could in the Volkswagen bus I had rented -- along with 8 of my students and in the company of whatever wild animals might have been prowling about. The gate reopened at 8:30 the following morning. We were not eaten alive and had no close encounters with hippo tusks.