Page:George McCall Theal, History of South Africa since September 1795, Volume 1 (1908).pdf/67

1799] The time seemed opportune for the purpose, as the garrison was then weaker than at any other period since the conquest. In the first and second weeks of January 1799 the sixty-first and eighty-first regiments had arrived at the Cape, but they were chiefly composed of boys, were only fifteen hundred strong between them, and a very large proportion of the rank and file were sick and unfit for duty. The eighty-sixth, a fine regiment of over a thousand men, was under orders for India, and left South Africa on the 19th of February. It was evident to every one that the garrison was greatly weakened by the exchange, so much so that the English civil servants and merchants in the town volunteered to assist in keeping guard, and though only sixty-one in number, their services were accepted by the government.

The fleet also was reduced in strength. In January 1799 the Imperieuse and Braave were detached temporarily for service in India, the Sphinx returned to England, and in place of these ships only the frigate Oiseau was added. Rear Admiral Sir Hugh Christian had died on the 23rd of November 1798, and the senior captain on the station was in command until a successor should arrive.

A very disastrous fire, occasioned by the burning wad of the nine o'clock gun falling on the thatched roof of the dragoon stables in the evening of the 22nd of November 1798, tended further to reduce the efficiency of the troops. A violent southeast wind caused the flames to spread to the adjoining buildings, notwithstanding vigorous efforts were made to stop them. The fire was at length got under by destroying a large dwelling house in advance of it, and saturating the ruins and buildings beyond with water; but there was great destruction of government property. The timber yard, the commissariat magazines, and the victuallers' warehouses were consumed with their contents. Over a hundred and thirty dragoon horses were burned to death, and nearly the whole of the naval and military stores in the colony were destroyed. This disaster was magnified by rumour, and the farmers on the frontier believed that the army was made almost powerless by it.