Cocks letter diary, 1916-1919 / Verner Cocks - Page 24
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[Page 24]
9
City to the Town Hall on Sunday.
The population of Durban is 30000 whites, 40000 kaffirs and 30000 Indians. The town is simply overrun with blacks but the people keep them in their place by treating them like dogs. I believe the natives want to form a contingent to go to the war but the people are afraid to train them. The soldiers made too much of the ricksha boys who took them down wholesale. They would demand 1/- for a 3d ride until we got to know the fares. One chap wanted 6d all round for letting us take his photo - they are very cheeky. One citizen told me that they must pay the kaffirs 30/- a month & a sack of mealies, this costs 30/- and it is what they live on. Proper lodging must also be given them. It amounts to about £1 per week - coal workers get 2/6 per day - & all the young boys do this. The kaffir girls are also wonderfully fine physical specimen while young. They wear anklets & bangles & earings in their ears & nostrils & a shawl.
We left Durban at 8 am on Monday & now its very rough weather the roughest we