Butler, Thomas

Tybers Crawle
17th July 1820

Please your Excellency
Expecting every Day to have the
Honor of Seeing you here and not wishing to give trouble
if possible prevented me from laying my Miserable State
before you ere now. My distress and great disapointment
in every respect particularly as to the Quality of the
Land or more properly Speaking, Sand alloted to me
and my Eleven Settlers calls so loudly on me that,
I feel it a duty incumbent on me as as allege to lay
it before you _ I have thirty persons and myself to
feed which Costs me a British pound a Day, This
must Soon destroy me _ Tybers Crawle the place
allotted to me has about five or Six acres of Arable
Land a part even of which Small Quantity Mr
Nieuwant, the Field Cornet claims, This nor ten
times as much would not produce Sufficent to feed
my People, Had I any prospect of utlimately producing
Sufficient Food it would be somewhat Cheering,
But

the Contrary being the fact throws a Gloom over
me which often Costs me more uneasiness then ever
I experienced before _ I am ready to undergo any thing, that
Human Nature can endure to Establish myself but,
when ther is not Sufficient, Arable Land what can I
do. Can it be possible that my Country which I Served
faithfully for four and twenty years has Sent me into
this Desert to Starve and to be Laughid at by the
Wealthy Dutch many of whom tried this place before
and gave it up as good for nothing, The Water can
certainly be bought at a heavy expence one hundred
British pounds at least to Water a few acres but the
gush rain afterwards would certainly destroy all _ There
is no Soil on the Mountains to absorb the rain and
when it comes it carries all before it, I rely on my
Country to do me Justice and I call on you as a
Man of Humanity to the Instrument in obtaining
me that Justice, Were you to See this place you would
pity me _ My Sufferings have been great and there is
no Sign of them being at an end, I ever gave any
trouble nor did I ever Sleep in any Mans House in Africa
neither did any of my Family or my Followers except
the

Night which my Wife and myself Slept at Mr Bughs
who has shewn every disposition to Serve us and has
acted as a Father to my people Some of whom were
and are Sick, Evry details in His House were at their
Service, In all my afflictions I feel its my only
Comfort to be placed under the Protiction of so good
So Humane, and so worthy a Man. It Cost me one
thousand pounds to bring me here & bring, what I
have and what has been destroyed. My people altho
I treat them as well as I can are so disappointed that
they are quite in a state of desparation, and will not
work only as they please, It is highly neccessary
that Some regulations should be struck out in this
respect such as the Hours for Work, The punishment
when they refuse to work which I think should be
to stop their Food and that every Individual
should do what they reasonably can as long as
we are feeding them without their Cooperation
nothing can go on right, We should have Sufficent
powers & if we abuse it we should be punished. From
my Situation alltogether Death would be a blessing
I have the Honor to be most Obdt yrs
Tho.s Butler